BEL­MOPAN–Fi­nal terms for bring­ing Be­lize back on track with its debt oblig­a­tions were an­nounced by Prime Min­is­ter Dean Bar­row as he pi­lot­ed Gov­ern­ment of Be­lize Ex­ter­nal Debt Re­struc­tur­ing Mo­tion through the House of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives.Ac­cord­ing to the de­tails with­in the bill, the Be­lize gov­ern­ment pro­pos­es to ex­tend ma­tu­ri­ties and cut the coupon on the coun­try's US$544 mil­lion of de­fault­ed debt as part of the coun­try's sec­ond debt re­struc­tur­ing since 2007.

Prime Bar­row an­nounced plans to ex­tend the ma­tu­ri­ty on the de­fault­ed bonds to 2038 from 2029 and low­er the cur­rent coupon to five per cent from 8.5 per cent. Bar­row, speak­ing to the low­er house in Bel­mopan, said the agree­ment would pro­vide the coun­try US$247 mil­lion in re­lief over the next ten years.

Be­lize missed a $23 mil­lion coupon pay­ment on its bonds in Au­gust. It lat­er paid half the amount as talks with cred­i­tors con­tin­ued.The House of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives passed in one sit­ting the terms of the re­struc­tured su­per­bond be­fore it was sent for­ward to the Sen­ate