The Country Opinion Survey in Belize assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in better understanding how stakeholders in Belize perceive the WBG. It provides the WBG with systematic feedback from national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media, academia, the private sector, and...

IMF conducted a mission at the request of the Central Bank of Belize provided technical assistance focusing on developing a framework for the supervision of electronic money issuers in Belize. The mission reviewed existing approaches to supervising firms conducting regulated financial...

Purpose - Mangrove forests are one of the most bio-diverse and productive wetland environments on earth. However, these unique tropical forest environments that occupy coastal areas are among the most threatened habitats globally. These threats include logging, conversion of land for agriculture...

The 2024 Article IV Consultation with Belize highlights that real gross domestic product growth and inflation moderated in 2023. Belize's key policy priorities include raising the primary balance with revenue mobilization and expenditure rationalization to lower public debt to a level that...

The estimation and analysis of the distribution of the negative health impacts of certain commodities subject to excise taxes in Belize and the distribution of the burdens of the excise taxes across households of different income levels are the focus of this article. Particular attention is...

While the incidence of COVID-19 in Belize has subsided, the lasting health and economic impacts caused by the pandemic have demonstrated the need to build a resilient health system. The most recent figures from the Statistical institute of Belize confirm that there have been over 60,000 cases...

The estimation and analysis of the distribution of the negative health impacts of certain commodities subject to excise taxes in Belize and the distribution of the burdens of the excise taxes across households of different income levels are the focus of this article. Particular attention is...

This technical assistance report on Belize focuses on transition to accrual accounting. Belize is planning to transition to accrual accounting over the medium term. This reform is considered an advanced practice on the public financial management (PFM) spectrum and has been attempted by few...

This Selected Issues paper studies inflation dynamics in Belize with the goal of quantifying the role of external and domestic factors in the recent inflationary episode and projecting inflation going forward. The paper applies a Principal Component Analysis to inflation data of several...

This 2023 Article IV Consultation discusses that economic activity has rebounded strongly from the pandemic in Belize. After growing by 15 percent in 2021 and 12 percent in 2022, real GDP is projected to grow by 2.4 percent in 2023 and 2.0 percent over the medium term as spare capacity is...

• Belize conducted a debt-for-nature swap operation in 2021 that was heralded as a model for facilitating both debt relief and action on climate change. The country was able to commit an estimated US$107 million for conservation projects at the same time it restructured its unsustainable...

The Research Paper commences with an overview of Pillar One and Pillar Two followed by detailed discussions on salient provisions of Pillar Two. Pillar Two is envisaged to have a widespread impact on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) which are a distinct group of 38 United Nations (UN)...

The structure of multilateral financial partnerships has many relationship challenges, which need to be solved to positively impact sustainable human development. There is a lack of understanding in the development relationship between the so-called developed and developing countries, and...

The Research Paper commences with an overview of Pillar One and Pillar Two followed by detailed discussions on salient provisions of Pillar Two. Pillar Two is envisaged to have a widespread impact on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) which are a distinct group of 38 United Nations (UN)...

In this article, we seek to classify the national culture of Belize through the typologies offered by Geert Hofstede (1980) and Edward T. Hall (1960). The classification allows comparative use of existing cultural data for most other nations and world regions important in navigating cultural...

The structure of multilateral financial partnerships has many relationship challenges, which need to be solved to positively impact sustainable human development. There is a lack of understanding in the development relationship between the so-called developed and developing countries, and...

The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on Belize in 2020, leading to a 16.7 percent contraction in real GDP and a rise in public debt to an unsustainable level of 133 percent of GDP. To address this situation, the government presented a medium-term plan to lower public debt to 85 percent of...

"Confronting a debt crisis, the Belizean government has strategized to maximize revenues from lands designated as state property, privatizing lands for cash crop production and granting concessions for timber and oil extraction. Meanwhile, conservation NGOs have lobbied to establish protected...

Under BEPS Action 14, members of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS have committed to implement a minimum standard to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of the mutual agreement procedure (MAP). The MAP is included in Article 25 of the OECD Model Tax Convention and commits...

Belize has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a deep recession and worsened fiscal and external positions from already weak levels. The opposition People's United Party won the November 2020 elections by a wide margin, which gives the new government a unique opportunity to jump...

This paper examines the causes, process, and outcome of Belize’s 2016–17 sovereign debt restructuring – its third episode in last 10 years. As was the case in the earlier two restructurings, in 2006-07 and in 2012-13, the 2016-17 debt restructuring was executed through collaborative...

Belize's tourism sector has witnessed impressive growth in recent years with overnight tourist arrivals registering double digit annual growth rates since 2016. To guide the development of the tourism sector from 2012 to 2030, the government endorsed a National Sustainable Tourism Master Plan in...

The major macroeconomic goals are to boost output and employment levels and maintaining price stability. Two mainstream polices tasked with regulating the economy to achieve these multiple goals are monetary and fiscal policies. These policies use different instruments to influence the...

Cybersecurity risk is embedded in the CBB's supervisory framework, but additional enhancements are needed to formalize guidance and develop more intensive supervisory practices. Supervisory expectations on cybersecurity are presented in an informal guidance note, which should be formalized into...

The level of public investment in Belize has varied over the past years in the context of existing constraints. The sharp increase in public debt has limited available fiscal space.1 This has resulted in an increase in externally financed investments as a share of the capital budget and a...

This paper examines the causes, process, and outcome of Belize's 2016-17 sovereign debt restructuring - its third episode in last 10 years. As was the case in the earlier two restructurings, in 2006-07 and in 2012-13, the 2016-17 debt restructuring was executed through collaborative engagement...

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Belize grew faster than its regional peers. By the mid-2000s, however, economic growth had slowed down to the regional average. A vicious circle of low growth and increasing public debt has been clouding Belize's outlook. This paper applies a growth diagnostic...