Government Expands Basic Food Basket to Alleviate High Cost of Living

By all accounts, the cost of living in the country has skyrocketed, despite the increase in minimum wage. Minister of Human Development, Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, addressed the government’s new expansion on the basic food basket. As many as thirty-four items have been included on that list bringing the total to forty-three items, many of which will be price controlled. Her aim is to ensure that this will help alleviate the burden Belizeans carry for the high prices of what should be common grocery items. 

Dolores Balderamos Garcia, Minister of Human Development: “The price regulated items was a very tiny list of about nine different things. Now what we’ve done, of course keeping in mind trying to make the cost of living a little more affordable for, especially for our poorer people we expanded a basic basket of goods. We expanded the list to actually 43 items now. And then for the food items now you mustn’t mark it up by more than 15%. And for the non-food items, like say, baby oil and petroleum jelly and toothpaste and like that bar soap, you mustn’t mark it up by more than 20%. I’m happy, again it’s going to be a tall order to police but I’m happy that we’ve done something to say to the Belizean people we’re feeling it.”

Minister Garcia shared that she hopes this will assist the common Belizean in being able to adjust their eating lifestyle and flip it into a slightly healthier one.