Inflation, the IMF added, should ease to 4.1% this year and 1.2% over the mid-term. Belize's fiscal position has strengthened significantly, the IMF said in a statement, pointing to a public debt expected to decline to 60% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year and 53% by 2028. The IMF said public debt fell from 101% of GDP in 2020 to 64% in 2022, "driven by the debt for marine protection swap with The Nature Conservancy, a significant reduction in the fiscal deficit helped by expenditure restraint, strong growth, high inflation, and a discount in the Petrocaribe debt owed to Venezuela."
It underscored that "public debt is assessed as sustainable over the medium term, although with still high near-term risks."
The IMF said its directors had encouraged further fiscal consolidation to keep reducing public debt, as well as measures such as expanding the country's tax base, strengthening revenue administration, and pension reform.
It also recommended more spending on infrastructure,
crime prevention and targeted social programs.
Risks to its outlook remain "tilted to the downside" it
said, flagging possibilities of a sharp global slowdown, further
commodity price hikes and climate-linked disasters.
(Reporting by Sarah Morland; Editing by Anthony Esposito)
