And even without all the tourism money being banked in Belize, the banks are flush with US dollars, and overall liquidity. But too much excess liquidity is not a good thing, it means the banks aren't lending - or in this case - one bank. We asked the governor about it:
Jules Vasquez:
"Excess liquidity, it's in the hundreds of millions must be 600 million now... "
Kareem Michael, Governor - Central Bank
"Uneven just like the share of foreign assets heavily skewed at one financial institution."
Jules Vasquez:
"Heavily skewed at one financial institution. Should the bank as regulator seek to somehow penalize or fine any bank that hoards excess liquidity."
Kareem Michael, Governor - Central Bank
"Difficult question, has been proposed several times. Finding the best mechanism to do that we have not reached there yet. And similiar to how we have looked at fees might have unintended consequences."
At the end of September the actual excess liquidity was close to 800 million dollars - most of it at the Belize Bank.
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