Amid unprecedented skyrocketing fuel prices that have pushed pump costs to as high as $15 per gallon in Belize, Prime Minister John Briceño has publicly defended his administration’s controversial decision to slash profit margins for domestic fuel dealers, while signaling that large multinational oil companies operating in the country will be the next group called upon to make concessions to ease consumer burden.
In a morning press interview, Briceño laid out the government’s rationale for the policy change, emphasizing that every stakeholder across the fuel supply chain must contribute to absorbing the strain of global price volatility. “As a government, we feel that everybody has to do their part. Consumers are doing their part because they’re paying more. The government has been cutting taxes. So it was only reasonable or fair for the dealers also to take a cut,” the prime minister stated.
Under the new adjustment, dealer margins have been reduced to less than $1 per gallon. Briceño acknowledged that fuel dealers overwhelmingly favor retaining higher margins, but argued that the current market dynamic has rendered the 2004 margin formula obsolete. That original framework was designed when fuel prices were far lower, and as global costs have surged in recent years, dealer margins have grown far larger than policymakers ever anticipated when the formula was established.
“It was never foreseen back then that the prices would go to thirteen and fifteen dollars. So the higher the price was, the bigger their margin is,” he explained. He added that he received correspondence from a former Texaco executive confirming that Belize’s fuel dealer margins were already among the highest in the entire Central American region, even before the latest price spikes.
Turning next to major operators including Puma and Sol, Briceño accused the large oil firms of increasing indirect costs for dealers – such as facility rent and percentage cuts on in-store sales – as fuel prices have climbed, effectively siphoning off a share of dealer profits already. Briceño said it is now time for these large corporations to make their own concessions to help lower consumer costs, noting that upcoming discussions between the government and company leadership will address this issue. “I think it is also incumbent on the companies to make some adjustments, and maybe that’s a discussion we’re supposed to be having,” he said.
When pressed on criticism that the margin cut violates the 2004 formal agreement between the government and fuel dealers, Briceño offered a straightforward response: “We could argue every day whether we did or not. The point is we need to set the price.” He added that while dealers have sent formal correspondence to his administration raising objections, he has not yet reviewed the document. The prime minister expressed confidence that a constructive resolution will be reached, noting that he does not expect dealers to shut down operations in protest. “I believe that cooler heads will prevail. I don’t see them wanting to close down their gas stations,” he said.
Briceño also disclosed new data on the government’s existing fuel-related relief measures, revealing that the administration has already cut more than $60 million in fuel taxes so far in 2026, with total projected tax cuts for the year expected to land between $60 million and $80 million. He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to continuing to lower fuel prices as global market conditions improve, but noted that the government will eventually need to recover a portion of lost fuel tax revenue to maintain critical public social programs that support low-income and vulnerable Belizean communities. These programs include universal free education, student scholarships, national school feeding initiatives, and affordable housing projects targeted at single-mother households. “Free education, scholarships, the feeding programme, housing for mostly single mothers — we have to help the poor people,” he emphasized.