Earlier in the news, we showed you interviews we got outside the house meeting. It lasted about 6 and a half hours but at the very start, the prime minister gave a statement on his historic meeting with Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro. He explained that while they are still balancing the books, they have renegotiated a deal that will reduce a quarter of a billion dollars of Belize's public debt and drop the debt to GDP ratio significantly.
Briceno explained the details of the agreement between the government and Venezuela.
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Belize and Venezuela, president Maduro and I, on behalf of Venezuela and Belize have agreed on restructuring the PetroCaribe debts which will reduce the amount Belize owns under PetroCaribe by anywhere between BZ 267 million dollars, and 327 million dollars. As I said earlier, we still have to balance the books between Belize and Venezuela. Belize debt to GDP will therefore fall by another 6 to 7 percentage points. At such time that Belize can pay Venezuela, we will pay back this much reduced amount and do so from the date of our new agreement on our original terms provided for under PetroCaribe which is at an interest rate of 2%, with the repayment period of 25 years and a principal moratorium of two years."
"With this restructuring, Belize's debt to Venezuela, this administration will have wiped out, for a second time, more than a quarter of a billion dollars of public debt in a single renegotiation."
"The Central Bank of Belize and the IMF estimate that at the close of this year, 2022, Belize debt to GDP ratio will have been reduce to around, drum roll, to around 63%. You could clap, you know, you could clap. This is less than half of where it stood when we took office two years ago."
And the PM is hoping that that restructure can happen before the end of the year.
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