Belize: Passport to Paradise

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Desperate situations sometimes inspire daring solutions. Faced with a projected budget deficit of $17 million but unwilling to raise taxes, Belize's Prime Minister Manuel Esquivel has settled on a scheme to sell bonds on the international market that will bear an unusual dividend: the right of the buyer to become a citizen of his poor but peaceful Central American country.

Although open to all, the offer is aimed at jittery Hong Kong residents who might want to flee the coming of Chinese rule in 1997. Esquivel has already appointed an honorary consul to process applications there. He predicts that Belize will sell about 400 bonds at $25,000 each this year. Half the money will go to buy bonds backed by U.S. securities, which will eventually repay the investment. The remaining $5 million will go directly into the national treasury.