The Ministry of Finance announces that effective today, March 24, 2022, the regulated pump price of regular gasoline is now prescribed at $13.50, representing an increase of 66 cents compared to the last shipment Belize received.
Not only is this increase entirely attributable to the acquisition costs of the product but in order for the price to be kept at this level, the Government reduced all levies on regular fuel by 29 cents.
As Hon. John Briceño, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, has explained in recent public statements, the Government is in the process of establishing a Fuel Stabilization Mechanism which is expected to provide some level of price predictability while protecting fiscal targets in the national budget.
The ministry is also actively engaged with various stakeholders in the pursuit of certain burden sharing initiatives that can contribute to price stabilization, and eventually, price reduction. In this regard, the Government has been emphatic with Belize’s principal fuel importer, Puma Belize Ltd., about the imperative of competitive acquisition and pricing.
Recently, in the case of diesel fuel, the Government reduced the tax component by $1.17 in order to keep the price of that product at $13.41. This tax reduction alone represents, on an annualized basis, a loss of $17 million of anticipated budget revenues.
Countries over the world are enduring fuel price surges as a direct consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Though future prices are impossible to predict, the Government of Belize continues to examine all viable policy options for minimizing the fuel price shock, balancing as best as possible between the twin demands of affordable pump prices and budgetary steadiness.
