The government plans to cut fifty million dollars from its own spending to fund relief for struggling households. The Prime Minister says social programs, education and health will be protected, with savings coming from recurrent expenses such as office supplies. But the budget numbers suggest pens and paper will not be enough. Ministries may also have to reduce spending on fuel, travel, maintenance and professional services. Tonight, News Five’s Paul Lopez examines where the cuts could fall and whether Belizeans may ultimately feel them.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Fifty million dollars represents less than three percent of the government’s one-point-nine-billion-dollar budget. But the impact looks much larger when the cuts are measured against the specific areas being targeted. The government plans to remove thirty-five million dollars from goods and services and another fifteen million from the Capital Two program. Ministers will also give up half their allowances. Prime Minister John Briceño says social programs, education and health will not be touched. He pointed instead to recurrent expenses, including everyday office purchases.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“We have been very clear, especially when it comes to our social programs, that is not going to be touched, social programs, education, health. But what we are looking at is recurrent expenses, for instance office expenses, I’ll take a simple one, like office expense, stuff like that.”
But goods and services cover much more than stationery. That spending pool totals two hundred and sixty-four million dollars and includes nearly everything ministries buy outside of wages, pensions and debt payments. A thirty-five-million-dollar reduction would cut roughly thirteen percent from that pool. About one hundred and ten million dollars already goes toward utilities, fuel, food and rent. That leaves ministries with fewer easy places to find savings. The Prime Minister says the government must reduce expenses without throwing the national budget off balance or abandoning its commitments to international financial institutions.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“And we believe we can save a substantial amount to be able to help us so that our budget does not go completely out of wack, that we try our best to keep a primary balance which we promised to the IFI’s including the IMF and at the same time to have savings that we could use to address the challenges our citizens are facing.”
Office supplies across all ministries total just six-point-three million dollars. Even after adding printing, computer supplies, books and household sundries, the wider office-expense bundle reaches about twenty-four million dollars. Eliminating all of it would still leave the government eleven million dollars short of its goods-and-services target. The larger spending lines include thirty-three million dollars for maintenance, twenty-six million for fuel, eighteen million for travel and subsistence and sixteen million for professional services. Public Service Union President Dean Flowers warns that cutting operational spending could weaken the services public officers provide.
Dean Flowers
Dean Flowers, President, PSU
“It’s reason for concern. Look public servants, we are the people who deliver healthcare, education, services and Belizeans rely on these services every single day. If there is a cut in the budget by a quarter for the next five months, man common sense will tell you that public service quality will suffer, and the Belizean people will feel it. So, there is no guarantee that this twenty-five percent cut will provide the kind of relief that the Belizean people want.”
The government has not said how much each ministry must cut, leaving them to find their own savings. An even reduction could require millions from Finance, Home Affairs, Education, Defense and Health, where much of the money already covers electricity, fuel, transportation and food. The figures are only estimates, but they show how difficult it may be to save fifty million dollars without affecting public services. Opposition Leader Tracy Panton wants government to explain where the cuts will fall and how the relief will be shared.
Tracy Panton
Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition
“The prime minister has a way of speaking about things in very broad terms, fifty million dollars. So lets understand what the fifty million dollars will be realigned to do and how that money will be as best as possible evenly distributed among all constituencies, not just the constituencies aligned to the PUP.”
Government will pull fifteen million dollars from its public-projects budget, but has not said which projects could face cuts or delays. It promises to protect essential programs while funding household relief. The real test is whether Belizeans will end up paying for those savings through weaker public services. Paul Lopez for News Five.
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