A growing debate over fuel prices is putting pressure on the government, as Belize’s business community calls for relief, but the Prime Minister isn’t having it. The Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry is pushing for temporary cuts to fuel taxes, arguing that global price drops aren’t trickling down to consumers at the pump. But today, Prime Minister John Briceño responded, rejecting the proposal and criticizing the Chamber’s position as a misreading of how fuel taxes support government revenue. The disagreement highlights a wider tug-of-war over rising costs and economic policy. Here’s what the Prime Minister had to say.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“It’s embarrassing. Listen, if you collect a hundred dollars in taxes and you have environmental tax, you have, GST … the GST and you have- Excise … the excise and import tax, it’s still a hundred dollars. It doesn’t matter where you take it from. You could take it from environmental tax or the import tax or the excise tax. It’s still removing monies from the whole amount that you’re doing, and that’s what we’re doing. So it’s embarrassing sometimes to read such proclamations from the chamber.”
PM Briceño Demands Shared Sacrifice as Fuel Prices Surge
Rising fuel costs are hitting Belizeans where it hurts and now the government says everyone in the supply chain must share the burden. As global tensions in the Middle East drive prices higher, drivers here at home are digging deeper into their pockets just to fill up. Prime Minister John Briceño says the government has already absorbed millions in lost fuel tax revenue to soften the blow, but warns that alone isn’t enough. He’s now calling on fuel importers to tighten their margins, arguing that the decades-old pricing formula no longer reflects today’s economic realities. Here’s how he broke it down.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“I have left that with the financial secretary, and I know they’ve tried to ask to, to meet with me. But I, again, it’s I have to declare my interest that we have a service station in Orange Walk Town. So I try to stay away from such topics. But the reality is that when that formula was set in 2004, the prices were way lower, and presently the prices continue to go up. And the government has been cutting, and I will send you all the data, millions of dollars in in taxes that we are foregoing. The public is taking a hit because the price continue to go up. And so the dealers are expected to do their part, and we hope that they would understand that. It’s not something that we do out of malice or anything, but this – we’re all in this boat together so everybody has to do their part. It’s like with unions during COVID, when we got into government, we had to appeal to them to accept a salary cut because then everybody was going through a difficult time. So I’m appealing to them, and I’m hoping that common sense is going to prevail.”
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