## Belize: Selected Issues

_IMF Staff Country Reports, May 15, 2024_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Belize: Selected Issues](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2024/05/15/belize-selected-issues-549011)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/publications/cr/issues/2024/05/15/belize-selected-issues-549011/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/publications/cr/issues/2024/05/15/belize-selected-issues-549011/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/publications/cr/issues/2024/05/15/belize-selected-issues-549011/bundle-manifest.json)

## Bibliographic details
- Published: May 15, 2024
- Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798400276286.002

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### Summary of episode and scope
- Documents the recent episode of food inflation and food insecurity in Belize.
- Overviews what policies were announced in Belize and the Caribbean during the recent cost-of-living crisis.
- Discusses the policies Belize could implement to protect its most vulnerable households from the threat of food insecurity going forward.
- Estimates how much it would cost the government of Belize to protect the vulnerable population against a rise in food prices like the one in 2022.

### Findings on causes and impacts
- Food price inflation and resulting food insecurity have been a recent episode affecting vulnerable households in Belize.
- The paper assesses appropriate policies based on economic theory and best practices to protect vulnerable households from food price inflation going forward.

### Policies announced and assessed
- Reviews policies announced in Belize and the Caribbean during the recent cost-of-living crisis.
- Notes a recent Belize policy that regulates mark-ups on essential goods by wholesale and retail operators; limits on the mark-up for 32 essential goods were introduced to limit the increase in food prices and avoid monopolistic practices.
- Recommends that the authorities should evaluate the impact of the mark-up regulation when they have sufficient data.

### Policy recommendations and analytical approach
- Recommends policy design that draws on economic theory and best practices to protect vulnerable households from food price inflation.
- Emphasizes the need for data-driven evaluation of interventions (for example, the mark-up limits on 32 essential goods) to assess effectiveness and unintended consequences.
- Analyzes fiscal and policy costs of protecting vulnerable populations against shocks comparable to the 2022 food price increase.

### Key metrics and publication identifiers
- Pages: 22
- Volume: 2024
- Issue: 125
- Series: Country Report No. 2024/125
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798400276286.002
- Stock No: 1BLZEA2024002
- ISBN: 9798400276286
- ISSN: 1934-7685
- Publication date: May 15, 2024

*Source: Belize: Selected Issues (IMF Staff Country Report, May 15, 2024).*

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## Content in this bundle

- **Belize: Selected Issues; IMF Country Report No. 24/125; April 24, 2024**
  - [Belize: Selected Issues; IMF Country Report No. 24/125; April 24, 2024 (Markdown version)](/-/media/files/publications/cr/2024/english/1blzea2024002.pdf.md){rel="alternate" type="text/markdown"}
  - [Belize: Selected Issues; IMF Country Report No. 24/125; April 24, 2024 (PDF)](/-/media/files/publications/cr/2024/english/1blzea2024002.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2024/05/15/belize-selected-issues-549011_