Public Employment and Pay Policy in Belize

Due in part to Belize's characteristic as a small state, its public administration is among the most expensive in Central America relative to the size of its economy. This represents a potential risk in a challenging fiscal context. The wage bill's fiscal risk has been flagged as a concern over the years, and it has remained an important issue, which is aggravated by the fact that the relatively high level of spending still does not effectively promote, attract, and retain adequate human capital for the delivery of public services. This Technical Note reviews the current public employment and pay policy in Belize, and proposes short and medium-term measures to achieve important human resource management objectives in the public sector, including to develop a fiscally sustainable wage bill, attract and retain required human capital, and enhance performance orientation in the public sector.