External Trade Bulletin

IMPORTS DOWN 2.6%, EXPORTS DOWN 43.1% IN FEBRUARY

IMPORTS

FEBRUARY: Belize's total imports for the month of February 2016 were valued at $168.3 million. This was a decrease of 2.6 percent or $4.6 million from imports for February 2015, which totaled $172.9 million.

Imports destined for the 'Export Processing Zones', which fell sharply from $12 million to $4.5 million, were the primary contributors to the month's decline. Reduced purchases of shrimp feed and machinery for preparing tobacco, for the most part, were responsible for this decline. Despite a slight increase in the quantity of premium fuel imported, Belize spent almost $6 million less on 'Mineral Fuels and Lubricants', as fuel prices remained lower when compared to the same month of 2015. Imports into the 'Commercial Free Zones' and purchases of 'Chemical Products' fell by $2 million and $1.5 million, respectively, in the month of February. While the reduction in the former was attributed to fewer clothing purchases, the latter resulted from a drop in fertilizer imports.

In contrast, imports of 'Machinery and Transport Equipment', 'Other Manufactures' and 'Food and Live Animals' all grew in the month of February. 'Machinery and Transport Equipment' rose by $4.6 million, owing to increased purchases of computer networking hardware, agricultural equipment and four-cylinder vehicles. 'Other Manufactures' increased by $3 million, the result of greater purchases of laboratory equipment, while imports of 'Food and Live Animals' went up by $2 million.

EXPORTS

FEBRUARY: Domestic exports for February 2016 totaled $29.6 million, a 43.1 percent or $22.4 million decrease from the $52 million recorded in February 2015, with all of Belize's major commodities declining during the month. Sales of marine products fell by more than a half from $10 million to $4 million, as farm shrimp exports declined by over $6 million. Sugar earnings were down from $8 million to $3 million, owing to a change in the scheduling of shipments and the fact that only bagged sugar was exported for the month. This shortfall in comparison to earnings for 2015 is expected to balance out with a bulk shipment scheduled for March of this year. Citrus and banana exports declined by $3.5 million dollars each, as orange concentrate sales dwindled by nearly a third and banana sales were cut by almost a half. Additionally, while more than $6 million in crude petroleum was exported during February 2015, there was none exported during the month of February 2016. Animal feed exports, on the other hand, doubled during the month.

As was observed for the month of February, all major exports declined over the two month period. Marine sales suffered the sharpest drop from $22 million to $7 million, resulting in a loss in earnings of over two thirds compared to the same two months in 2015. Additionally, papayas, while having less of an impact on overall export earnings, recorded a sharp decline in sales for the first two months of the year.

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Consumer Price Index

CONSUMER PRICES UP 0.3% IN FEBRUARY AS FUEL PRICES CONTINUE TO RISE

The Statistical Institute of Belize's latest figures on consumer prices show that the All-Items Consumer Price Index stood at 102.7, an increase of 0.3 percent from 102.5 recorded in February 2015. This means that the prices of various goods and services purchased by Belizean households were, on average, 0.3 percent higher in February 2016 than they were in February of 2015.

An increase of 0.9 percent was observed in the "Food & Non- Alcoholic Beverages" category when compared to the same period last year. At the individual product level, higher prices were seen for beef, pork, fish, eggs and fresh vegetables. Lower prices for Red Kidney beans partially offset these increases.

The "Transport" category recorded an overall decrease of just over 4 percent when compared to last February, despite an increase of 0.7 percent in the "Fuel" index. Premium gasoline prices saw a 27 percent spike while regular gasoline was up by about 3 percent. In contrast, the average price of diesel fuel declined by 9 percent and international airfares were down by 32 percent.

Within the category of "Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels", home rental prices rose by 0.7 percent in comparison to last February. This increase was, however, offset by lower electricity tariffs and LPG prices, with the latter falling from $93.14 per 100-pound cylinder in February 2015 to $82.60 in February 2016. The result was a marginal increase of 0.1 percent in prices for the category as a whole.

Prices for "All Other Categories of Goods and Services" saw an average increase of 1.5 percent during the period. This was as a result of higher motor vehicle and health insurance premiums, doctor consultation fees, and restaurant and hotel prices.

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Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 4th Quarter of 2015

SLOW BUT POSITIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH IN FOURTH QUARTER 2015

Preliminary estimates by the Statistical Institute of Belize indicate that, for the three months from October to December 2015, the country's level of economic activity increased marginally by 0.6 percent compared with the same period in 2014. The total value of goods and services produced in Belize during the fourth quarter rose by almost $4 million dollars from $657.4 million in 2014 to $661.1 million in 2015.

Primary Activities: The primary sector experienced a sharp drop of 27.4 percent in total production for the period, as several major industries recorded downturns during the quarter. Marine production was significantly lower compared to the fourth quarter of 2014, due to a decline in farm shrimp production. Banana shipments also decreased, by 25 percent or more than 7 thousand metric tons, as unseasonably dry weather conditions affected the maturity of the plants. Livestock production was down during the quarter, as both cattle and swine saw decreases for the period.

With sugarcane deliveries starting in December 2015, a month earlier than in the previous delivery season, production of over 122 thousand metric tons was recorded for the fourth quarter of 2015, while there was no sugarcane production recorded for the same quarter of 2014. Citrus fruit deliveries also saw an increase during the three month period, with orange production in particular rising by about 2.5 thousand metric tons.

Secondary Activities: For the fourth quarter of 2015, secondary activities saw an increase of 8.4 percent, driven by strong performances in "Electricity and Water" and "Construction". Electricity production grew by more than 18 percent, with hydroelectricity generation surging due to higher levels of water in the reservoirs prior to the start of the rainy season. Water distribution was up by 8 percent during the last three months of 2015 when compared to the same period of 2014, as new connections were added to more rural communities in the country. Construction activities saw a 5 percent increase during the quarter, as a result of ongoing works on municipal recreational parks and other infrastructural developments. This was reflected in a 9 percent growth in construction loans issued by commercial banks.

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You may download the entire series for both External Trade and CPI in Excel format from the Statistical Institute of Belize website: (http://www.sib.org.bz/statistics)