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The PM is confident that the IMF will acknowledge how the situation with the unions was dealt with, as well as negotiating for a haircut from holders of the Superbond.

He told the media today that the IMF had told GOB that their homegrown plan may be enough to get Belize out of the dire financial straits it finds itself in. He's confident the IMF will recognize how focused and determined they are to fix the economy.

Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"The IMF what they finally said publicly is what they told us privately that of course the history that we have with the IMF is not a good one, so obviously there was a lot of concerns whether we would have the discipline to carry though. But they told us from early that if we can hold on to what we said we are going to do we would be able to get out of this difficult situation. When they saw how we manage and handle the consultations with the unions, setting up the budget, setting up the renegotiations of the superbond, I think they saw that we are serious that we are determined and that we are focus in what we want to do, is to be able to fix the Belizean economy to put Belize in a sustainable path, to address the issue of the debt and address the issue of poverty and the economy and to create opportunities for everyone."

Reporter
"Will you government broaden the tax base by taxing zero rated items as the IMF recommends?"

Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Well, we are not looking at that at this moment. What we are looking at is trying to address what is in front of us. The whole issue of how we can get the economy going, how we can collect the taxes we should be collecting. And once we address those issues, I believe we are going to be fine. But only time will tell as to what exactly needs to be done. Right now, we have set our targets and we believe we can reach our targets if everybody does their part."

Government Will Renegotiate With Bondholders

And speaking of the superbond, talks with bondholders continue to negotiate a principal haircut. PM Briceno gave the press a brief comment during a lightning round of questions.

Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"We will start the actual negotiations and we are very optimistic; we are quite hopeful that we will be able to restructure the superbond and to be able to save a large sum of money for the Belizean people."

Channel 7

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