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Political and economic outlook Belize is a heavily indebted upper-middle-income economy that relies on tourism services and agricultural and marine exports. Extreme weather and swings in commodity prices pose risks. [...]

The Belize dollar has been pegged to the US dollar at a fixed rate of Bz$2:US$1 since 1976, and the CBB is fully committed to maintaining this policy. Foreign-exchange reserves [...]

2019[sup.a] 2020[sup.a] 2021[sup.a] 2022[sup.a] 2023[sup.a] GDP at market prices (Bz$ bn) 4.8 4.1 4.8 5.7 6.5 GDP (US$ bn) 2.4 2.0 2.4 2.8 3.3 Real GDP growth (%) 4.2 -13.7 [...]

2022 2023 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Qtr Central government finance (Bz$ m) Revenue 323.6 343.4 345.7 328.9 326.9 364.3 [...]

Forecast summary (% unless otherwise indicated) 2022[sup.a] 2023[sup.a] 2024[sup.b] 2025[sup.b] Real GDP growth 8.7 4.7 3.0 2.6 Gross agricultural production growth 12.9[sup.c] -5.1[sup.c] 1.5 3.0 Consumer price inflation (av) 6.3 [...]

Annual inflation came in at 3.4% in March, suggesting that an upward trend that began in the second half of 2023 (inflation hit a low of 2.8% in July) is [...]

The current-account deficit narrowed to just 2.8% of GDP in 2023 as tourist inflows surged. However, we expect this trend to reverse in 2024-25, with the deficit averaging 4.9%, as [...]

Belize is a small, open economy with a fixed exchange rate to the US dollar, meaning that any moves by the Federal Reserve (Fed, the US central bank) strongly influence [...]

Efforts to attract more trade and investment are at the heart of the government's foreign policy agenda; in particular, it is prioritising closer ties with Mexico and other Central American [...]

Following a robust GDP expansion of 4.7% in 2023, we forecast that growth will ease to 3% in 2024 and to 2.6% in 2025 as important sectors (such as tourism) [...]

International assumptions summary (% unless otherwise indicated) 2022 2023 2024 2025 Real GDP growth World 3.1 2.5 2.4 2.6 US 1.9 2.5 2.0 1.6 EU27 3.6 0.6 0.9 1.7 Exchange [...]

The prime minister, John Briceño of the centre-left People's United Party (PUP), benefits from a strong political mandate. On the legislative front, the PUP holds 26 of the 31 seats [...]

The government has maintained a fairly austere approach in its recently proposed budget for fiscal year 2024/25 (April-March) as part of an existing medium-term fiscal framework. However, it has relaxed [...]

With the next election likely to take place in late 2025, electoral concerns will start to come to the fore in the second half of 2024. Although regular polls are [...]

Our forecasts assume policy continuity and a broadly orthodox approach to economic policy for the remainder of the current term. The government made significant progress towards restoring debt sustainability on [...]

Land area 22,963 sq km Population 410,825 (2023, World Bank estimate) Main towns Population in '000 (2010, census) Belmopan (capital): 13.3 Belize City: 53.5 San Ignacio/Santa Elena: 17.0 Orange Walk [...]

Official name Belize Form of state Representative democracy Head of state King Charles III, represented by a governor-general The executive Prime minister, chosen from the majority party in the legislature, [...]

Caribbean financial systems have experienced more damage to correspondent banking relationships (CBRs) than has been the case in other regions, owing to the fallout from the international fight against financial [...]

Land area 22,963 sq km Population 441,471 (June 2022, official estimate) Main towns Population in '000 (2010, census) Belmopan (capital): 13.3 Belize City: 53.5 San Ignacio/Santa Elena: 17.0 Orange Walk [...]

2021 2022 2023 4 Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr Central government finance (Bz$ m) Revenue 297.6 323.6 343.4 345.7 328.9 [...]

Official name Belize Form of state Representative democracy Head of state King Charles III, represented by a governor-general The executive Prime minister, chosen from the majority party in the legislature, [...]

2019[sup.a] 2020[sup.a] 2021[sup.a] 2022[sup.a] 2023[sup.b] GDP at market prices (Bz$ bn) 4.8 4.1 4.8 5.7 6.5 GDP (US$ bn) 2.4 2.0 2.4 2.8 3.3 Real GDP growth (%) 4.2 -13.7 [...]

Political and economic outlook Belize is a heavily indebted upper-middle-income economy that relies on tourism services and agricultural and marine exports. Extreme weather and swings in commodity prices pose risks. [...]

What's happened? Annual consumer inflation in Belize rose for a second consecutive month in September, reaching 4.2%, driven by double-digit increases in food and hospitality prices. However, other factors that [...]

EIU believes that foreign direct investment (FDI) will become a slightly more important driver of economic growth in Latin America in the coming years than it was in 2000-20 (during [...]

2021 2022 2023 3 Qtr 4 Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr Central government finance (Bz$ m) Revenue 302.8 297.6 323.6 343.4 345.7 [...]

2019[sup.a] 2020[sup.a] 2021[sup.a] 2022[sup.a] 2023[sup.b] GDP at market prices (Bz$ bn) 4.8 4.2 5.0 6.4 6.8 GDP (US$ bn) 2.4 2.1 2.5 3.2 3.4 Real GDP growth (%) 4.5 -13.4 [...]

Land area 22,963 sq km Population 427,800 (June 2021, official estimate) Main towns Population in '000 (2010, census) Belmopan (capital): 13.3 Belize City: 53.5 San Ignacio/Santa Elena: 17.0 Orange Walk [...]

The government's foreign policy agenda is centred on trade and investment; in particular, the PUP is prioritising closer ties with Mexico and Central America. Belize's strong relations with Taiwan were [...]

Official name Belize Form of state Representative democracy Head of state King Charles III, represented by a governor-general The executive Prime minister, chosen from the majority party in the legislature, [...]

The prime minister, John Briceño, benefits from a large legislative majority; his centre-left People's United Party (PUP) has 26 of the 31 seats in the House of Representatives (the lower [...]

Political and economic outlook Belize is a heavily indebted upper-middle-income economy that relies on tourism services and agricultural and marine exports. Extreme weather and surges in commodity prices pose risks. [...]

Belize is a small, open economy with a fixed exchange rate to the US dollar, and so moves by the Federal Reserve (Fed, the US central bank) strongly influence monetary [...]

Forecast summary (% unless otherwise indicated) 2022[sup.a] 2023[sup.b] 2024[sup.c] 2025[sup.c] Real GDP growth 12.1 6.0 3.1 2.8 Gross agricultural production growth 3.3[sup.b] 0.5 1.5 3.0 Consumer price inflation (av) 6.3 [...]

International assumptions summary (% unless otherwise indicated) 2022 2023 2024 2025 Real GDP growth World 3.1 2.3 2.3 2.7 US 2.1 1.8 0.9 2.0 EU27 3.5 0.8 1.4 1.9 Exchange [...]

Our forecasts assume policy continuity and a broadly orthodox approach to economic policy for the remainder of the current government's term in 2024-25. The government made significant progress towards restoring [...]

Annual inflation slowed to 3.7% in July, underpinning an easing trend that began in August 2022, when it reached a peak of 7.4% in August 2022 (the highest level since [...]

The post-pandemic rebound in 2022 stoked import demand, causing the current-account deficit to rise to 8% of GDP in 2022-the widest shortfall for more than a decade-before easing to an [...]

The 2023/24 fiscal year (April-March) budget has maintained an austere approach as part of a medium-term fiscal framework established in previous years. Economic recovery will bring limited fiscal relief; we [...]

The Belize dollar has been pegged to the US dollar at a fixed rate of Bz$2:US$1 since 1976, and the CBB is fully committed to maintaining this policy. Foreign-exchange reserves [...]

The first quarter of 2023 saw real GDP grow by a robust 11.5% year on year, which suggests ongoing strong post-pandemic momentum. As a result, we have significantly revised up [...]

The next election is likely to take place in late 2025, which will keep electoral concerns in the background until the second half of 2024. The last general election, on [...]

Political and economic outlook Belize is a heavily indebted upper-middle-income economy that relies on tourism services and agricultural and marine exports. Extreme weather and surges in commodity prices pose risks. [...]

Official name Belize Form of state Representative democracy Head of state King Charles III, represented by a governor-general The executive Prime minister, chosen from the majority party in the legislature, [...]

The Belize dollar has been pegged to the US dollar at a fixed rate of Bz$2:US$1 since 1976, and the CBB is fully committed to maintaining this policy. Foreign-exchange reserves [...]

Forecast summary (% unless otherwise indicated) 2021[sup.a] 2022[sup.b] 2023[sup.c] 2024[sup.c] Real GDP growth 15.2 12.1[sup.a] 3.0 3.3 Gross agricultural production growth 11.3 4.3 2.0 4.0 Consumer price inflation (av) 3.3 [...]

The economic rebound in 2022 has stoked import demand, keeping the current account in deficit despite an uptick in tourism revenue. We expect the deficit to average 4.2% of GDP [...]

International assumptions summary (% unless otherwise indicated) 2021 2022 2023 2024 Real GDP growth World 5.9 3.1 2.0 2.5 US 5.9 2.1 0.7 1.2 EU27 5.4 3.5 0.7 1.7 Exchange [...]

Belize benefited from a strong post-pandemic recovery in 2022, with GDP growing by 12.1%, but we expect growth to slow to a more moderate 3% in 2023 as this momentum [...]

Annual inflation edged down slightly in February, to 6.5%, from a peak of 7.4% in August 2022 (its highest level since 2008). Hurricane-related disruption to agriculture and goods distribution in [...]