Belmopan, June 19, 2025.
The Ministry of National Defence and Border Security denies recent false claims that Belize Defence Force (BDF) members will face salary cuts following a memorandum from the Ministry of Finance.
The 16 June 2025 memorandum authorizes an administrative correction to ensure that all BDF salaries, increments, and promotions align correctly with the approved 2019 pay scales, effective from 1 June 2019, based on a joint review with the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury Department.
No salary cuts are being imposed on any BDF member.
Key Points:
- Not all BDF members were affected by an erroneous application of the adjusted pay scale.
- No member of the BDF will be required to repay any overpayments resulting from past errors.
- The adjustment corrects instances where some soldiers were mistakenly placed on incorrect points of the pay scale, which affected their salary, increments, and promotions.
- No retroactive payments will be made for the erroneous adjustments that were incorrectly applied in the past to some BDF members.
- The Ministry has approved two new allowances for BDF members effective 1 May 2024: the Jungle and Maritime Allowance and the Bush Allowance. These allowances will be paid retroactively starting with the July 2025 pay cycle.
The Ministry assures all BDF members and the public that this exercise is a necessary administrative measure to maintain fairness, accuracy, and transparency in salary administration.
Ends
For more information, please contact:
publicrelations@defence.gov.bz
Ministry of National Defence and Border Security
