BELMOPAN, Belize – Prime Minister John Briceño Monday announced that the Belize government has negotiated more than a quarter billion dollar (One Belize dollar=US$0.49 cents) reduction in the debt owed to Venezuela under the PetroCaribe initiative.
Prime Minister John Briceño announcing new debt restructuring deal with Venezuela in the Parliament (CMC Photo)Briceño told Parliament that this would result in a six to seven percent decline in debt to gross domestic product ratio.
PetroCaribe is a regional oil procurement agreement between Venezuela and several Caribbean countries that was founded in 2005 in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela during Hugo Chavez presidency. Venezuela offered member states oil supplies on a concessionary financial agreement.
Petrocaribe fell apart by 2019 after sanctions, dwindling oil production, corruption, and oil price fluctuations took their toll on Caracas, which is now in discussions to restart the agreement.
“I am happy to announce today yet another decisive step in our campaign to reverse the fiscal and debt crisis left to us by the United Democratic Party government,” Briceño told legislators, adding “Belize and Venezuela…have agreed on restructuring the terms of the PetroCaribe debt which will reduce the amount Belize owes under PetroCaribe by anywhere between BDZ$267 million and BDZ$327 million”.
He said there is ‘still need to balance the books between Belize and Venezuela, but the country’s debt to GDP will “therefore fall by another six to seven percentage points.
“As such time Belize can pay Venezuela we will pay back this reduced amount and do so from the date of a new agreement on the original terms provided for under PetroCaribe which is at an interest rate of two percent with a repayment period of 25 years and a principal moratorium of two years.
“We renegotiated everything,” Briceño said, adding “and they even give us a new start date.
“It’s incredible with this restructuring Belize’s debt to Venezuela this administration would have wiped out for a second time more than a quarter of a billion dollars of public debt in a single re-negotiation” Briceño added.
In recent months, several Caribbean countries have indicated that Caracas has been offering new oil deals under PetroCaribe.
