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Minnis: Gov’t is ‘penny wise, pound foolish’ on health VAT

• Too many ‘living on edge’ for medical bill hike

• Broker chief: Claims payout levy is ‘cash grab’

• Doctor: Patients face being ‘royally screwed’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

AN EX-PRIME minister yesterday accused the Government of being “penny wise and pound foolish” over the imminent change in VAT treatment of health insurance claims payments.

Dr Hubert Minnis, asserting that he “would not have gone down that road”, told

Tribune Business that medical bills for the thousands of Bahamians with private insurance will inevitably increase due to the Ministry of Finance’s decision to stop insurers recovering from the Government the 10 percent VAT levied on claims payouts.

Suggesting that the VAT will be passed on to patients, either partially or in full, he argued that many Bahamians already “living on the edge”

Governor eyes IMF-beating 4-6% GDP growth for 2023

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE CENTRAL Bank’s

governor yesterday forecast that The Bahamas could beat International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections by growing its economy “anywhere in the 4-6 percent range” for 2023.

John Rolle, addressing the regulator’s 2022 fourth quarter economic briefing, suggested The Bahamas could this year exceed international expectations that have its gross domestic product (GDP) expansion pegged at around 4.1 percent for the full 12 months. His more upbeat forecast came as he said it was

• Bahamian economy grows 7-9% in 2022

• Country must seek new expansion drivers

• Private sector US$ demands jump by 30%

“likely that the economy grew by between 7 and 9 percent in 2022”, driven by the continued postCOVID tourism rebound combined with resort and real estate-based foreign

direct investment (FDI) projects.

However, Mr Rolle reiterated that, once the tourism industry completed its full post-pandemic rebound this year, The Bahamas must explore all available options “to increase potential growth” given that annual economic expansion is once again expected to “settle” back below 2 percent in line with historical performance.

Responding to questions from Tribune Business, the Governor said: “In terms of the expected growth rate for The Bahamas this year, I would say we expect anywhere in the 4-6 percent range [as] reasonable. The forecast that are out there

by the IMF and others line up reasonably close with what we expect.”

The IMF, which is due to release its updated World Economic Outlook today, is this far forecasting a 4.1 percent increase in economic output (GDP) for The Bahamas in 2023. The World Bank, too, is predicting the same level of growth, which places Mr Rolle’s estimates at the upper end of their range and, indeed, slightly above.

SEE PAGE B6

Financial Stability Council to develop ‘crisis playbook’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Central Bank’s governor yesterday said the creation of a Bahamian Financial Stability Council will help “develop a playbook” for how regulators and the Government manage an industry “crisis”.

John Rolle, addressing the regulator’s 2022 yearend and fourth quarter economic briefing, said moves to establish such

an entity had “not been triggered” by any current concerns regarding the stability of the Bahamian financial system.

Confirming that its membership will be comprised of financial services regulators, such as the Central Bank and Securities Commission, as well as relevant government agencies and ministries, he added that its role will be to provide “co-ordinated oversight of the financial services sector” and allow for a

collective response to any systemic threats.

The Governor was replying to Tribune Business questions after the Financial Stability Board discussions were revealed by Karen Rolle, the Central Bank’s inspector of banks and trust companies, in her 2022 fourth quarter newsletter to the regulator’s licensees.

“In the context of resolution, the Central Bank is also leading an initiative with other local regulators and the Ministry

of Finance to establish a Financial Stability Council (FSC). The FSC would be a non-statutory interagency body established to monitor and review emerging risks that might impact financial stability, as well as facilitate regular discussions and system-wide analysis on the financial strength of systemically important financial institutions in The Bahamas,” she wrote.

Confirming this was accurate, Mr Rolle said

SEE PAGE B6

Cheque elimination not a ‘simple flip of switch’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Central Bank’s governor yesterday conceded that plans to eliminate the use of cheques by end-2024 are “not as simple as flipping a switch” given the resistance encountered thus far to the move.

John Rolle, addressing the regulator’s 2022 full-year and fourth quarter economic briefing,

admitted that not all feedback and consultation received by the Central Bank was “receptive to change”. He added that it was in talks with the Government “around how that process looks” as it continues to push for modernisation of The Bahamas’ payments system through the increased use of digital transactions.

Noting that public education and outreach initiatives are planned to persuade Bahamians on

the merits of eliminating cheques as a form of payment, he added that the Central Bank will be forming a steering committee featuring industry stakeholders - the commercial banks, credit unions and insurers - to drive the process with a focus on three so-called “key performance indicators”.

Asserting that the Central Bank “understands” the concerns over, and opposition to, cheque elimination, Mr Rolle said: “It

due to soaring inflation will likely react by either dropping their private health insurance coverage or making other “sacrifices” such as foregoing more expensive, healthier meals. The end result, Dr Minnis argued, would be a sicker population that delayed treatment and medications, while further burdening a strained public health system.

Hotels eyeing ‘unprecedented forward bookings’ during 2023

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) president yesterday disclosed the industry is eyeing “unprecedented levels of forward bookings” for the 2023 first half and full year after December beat historical trends by 10 percent.

Robert Sands, speaking after the Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation revealed that December 2022 set a monthly record with 900,000 visitors to The Bahamas, told Tribune Business there “is no question” that the industry will beat pre-COVID comparisons from its former best-ever year of 2019.

He added that the improvement will not be felt only in resort occupancy levels but, more importantly, higher average daily room rates (ADRs) and revenue generation which is already ahead of

2022 “for sure” and also set to beat 2019 comparisons.

“I think the reality remains that there is significant pent-up demand for travel post-COVID, and certainly The Bahamas has been the beneficiary of that,” Mr Sands told this newspaper. “Pent-up demand continues to grow for The Bahamas, and it manifested itself in the level of tourism seen in 2022.

“I think we are wellpoised to exceed 2019 figures in 2023, and that’s a direct result if confidence in The Bahamas’ brand, pent-up demand for travel and the re-emergence of the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and events) market and groups that booked but could not travel in the COVID time period. I think all these things together point us in a strong and positive direction for 2023.

“If January is any indication of what the rest of the year is like we will be well on our way to achieve

SEE PAGE B3

will focus on kind of key performance indicators that we should be targeting for improvement as we move to reduce the use of cheques and even reduce the use of cash.

“These initiatives would include increasing the focus on the speed at which transactions are being settled in the electronic funds transfer space, looking at the cost to be transacting relative to alternative [payment methods] and

SEE PAGE B7

DR HUBERT MINNIS

DR CONVILLE BROWN

JOHN ROLLE

LANDSCAPER: DON’T SINGLE OUT HAITIAN WORK PERMITS

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter

THE Bahamas Landscaping Association’s (BLA) chairman says the Government should not bar only new work permit applications for Haitians as there are multiple other nationalities holding jobs Bahamians can do.

Conray Rolle told Tribune Business he has a “problem” with the Immigration Department only singling out Haitians after it was announced on Friday that all new work permit applications involving nationals from that country

will not be processed for an indefinite period. The halt to all new Haitian work permit applications, which was unveiled on Friday, was presented as a response to the growing unrest and instability in The Bahamas’ southern neighbour. Keith Bell, minister of labour and Immigration, and his officials said they acted because it was impossible to verify whether police certificates being presented on behalf of Haitian applicants were genuine documents due to the breakdown of law and order in Haiti. All new work permit applicants, regardless of nationality, have to produce a police certificate from

their home country as evidence they have no criminal record before they arrive in The Bahamas. Meanwhile, Mr Bell said all work permit applications presently moving through the system for Haitian workers, as well as renewals, will be subject to extra scrutiny and review. Several thousand work permits and renewals are issued annually for Haitian workers, who are typically employed in areas and industries such as gardening, landscaping, housekeepers/maids, and construction. “I get it. I support the notion of reducing the amount of work permits that we’re giving foreigners, whether they’re Haitians or

whatever, but don’t make it specific to Haitians,” Mr Rolle argued.

“There is an uprising in Haiti, and we can understand that, but then in the spirit of fairness to the industry you have to look at this from a holistic standpoint. There are people that are having issues in Panama, and you have all these Mexicans that are coming in, and you have all these other foreigners that are coming into the different countries that also making up the numbers. So you’ve got to look at it from that point, as well.”

Mr Rolle added: “While I support some measure of control, we can’t all of a sudden now go back to

what we issued so far and start pulling them back. Let’s see instead how much we can control going forward. We have to look at it from other countries as well. You have other contractors that are hiring all kinds of different nationals. Now you see this huge influx of Colombians and Mexicans, and that’s huge. “You start saying to the landscapers ‘we will not allow you to bring in any more Haitians’, yet you have the construction industry bringing in Mexicans to do drywall and tile. It leaves a lot of questions left to be answered.”

Leonard Sands, the Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA)

president, has said that if policies regarding Haitian labour become stricter to the point where it chokes off the supply of such workers then a lot of projects in The Bahamas would come to a complete stop.

Mr Rolle voiced a similar view, and encouraged the various training institutes in the country to “double up” on the training exercises for Bahamians. “This is the only way we can solve this problem holistically, is if we train Bahamians to do the jobs that Haitians are now doing,” he said.

Hotels eyeing ‘unprecedented forward bookings’ during 2023

FROM PAGE B1

growth in the stopover visitor category. On top of that, we are seeing an unprecedented level of forward bookings for the first half of this year, and more bookings on the books for the whole of 2023 than we’ve had historically,” Mr Sands continued.

“We’ve never seen such strength, certainly in January and the end part of February, March and April, and even bookings going through to July; an unprecedented level of advanced bookings on the books at this point in time.” He added that based on feedback from the BHTA’s member hotels, “certainly in New Providence, December was an exceptionally strong month. I would say that may have exceeded a normal December by 10 percent”.

Confirming that this increase relates to business volumes, Mr Sands said of the full-year outlook: “I think there’s no question that we will exceed 2019.”

And, besides occupancies, he added that the Bahamian tourism and resort industry is also ahead of pre-COVID comparisons when it comes to revenues and visitor spending.

“When you’re running very high occupancies, the incremental level of increase may not translate so much in terms of numbers, but the more important factor is revenue generation in terms of increased rates and spend,” he explained. “The increase for The Bahamas may not be recognised by sheer numbers but revenue

ROBERT SANDS

generation as well. We’re ahead of 2022 for sure, and we will definitely exceed 2019. I’m speaking principally for stopover visitors.”

The Ministry of Tourism, in its statement yesterday, said hotel occupancy and average daily room rates (ADRs) for every single month in 2022 were ahead of prior year comparisons. Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister, and minister of tourism, investments and aviation, said visitor arrivals in the 2022 second half outperformed pre-COVID comparisons to set the industry up nicely for 2023.

Total visitor arrivals, combining air and sea (cruise) tourists, were pegged at just over 7m for 2022 and only just shy of 2019’s record 7.2m. “According to statistics, the second half of 2022 outperformed the second half of 2019,” Mr Cooper said. In 2022, some1,470,244 visitors arrived by air, and another 5,530,462 by sea. December’s total arrivals exceeded 900,000 to set a new monthly record for The Bahamas.

The fact that we have exceeded expectations, and attracted more than seven million visitors to

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our country in 2022, something only done once before in a single year, was no accident,” Mr Cooper said. “Countless stakeholders in the Bahamian tourism industry, including our international partners, worked tirelessly to achieve this. We sought to strengthen relationships to open new air routes.

“We sought to make travel to The Bahamas easier, more accessible and affordable, and took the message that we were open for business during our missions and provided insight on our wonderful offerings to the world.” Foreign air and sea arrivals for 2022 were up by 233 percent over the same period in 2021, and just 3.4 percent below 2019’s pace.

Cruise arrivals in 2022 increased by nearly 400 percent over 2021, which is little surprise given that the industry was shut down until June/July 2021, and were less than 1 percent below 2019 cruise arrivals. More than 55 percent of

arrivals were said to be firsttimers to The Bahamas, with increases in the US, Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

“What the Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation are forecasting so far, and what forward bookings indicate, is that we are on track to break records in 2023. We don’t see this slowing down anytime soon,” Mr Cooper added.

Latia Duncombe, the Ministry of Tourism’s director-general, added: “We are all in the tourism business in The Bahamas. And it’s a great business to be in. We want to keep our brand fresh and evergreen. And that’s everyone’s job, especially mine. I have a great, hardworking team at our ministry and we have some incredible things in store this year.”

John Rolle, the Central Bank’s governor, his 2022 year-end and fourth quarter economic briefing, yesterday said that while tourism’s full recovery from COVID’s ravages is “incomplete” it is

“considerably advanced”.

He added that November’s stopover, or air, arrivals exceeded the pre-pandemic record of the same month in 2018, which the Central Bank is using for comparative purposes because it excludes Hurricane Dorian’s impact.

“In the overall trends, the gains from recovered stopover volumes were amplified by rising average nightly room rates for both resort properties and vacation rental units,” Mr Rolle said. “In the stopover segment, by November, the seasonal rebound in air arrivals had broken even the pre-pandemic high for the same month, which is a comparison against November 2018 that also preceded Hurricane Dorian.

“On a monthly basis, the cruise sector’s seasonal rebound had already significantly eclipsed the pre-pandemic base. However, both cruise and stopover visitors still have calendar year shortfalls to recoup. For the 11 months

through November, total air arrivals had converged to just 82 percent of the pre-pandemic high, and sea arrivals were at about 95 percent of the same comparisons.

“This remaining calendar year performance gap in both markets underscores the further healthy boost in the annual visitor volumes that is expected to occur during 2023.... The Bahamas is still in recovery mode, benefiting from significant pent-up demand for travel and capacity that is still being restored in the airline and hotel sectors. This will allow the economy to experience above average growth again in 2023.”

Mr Rolle said the various “headwinds”, or downside risks for The Bahamas, which he identified as inflation, COVID-19, global energy (oil) costs, the war in Ukraine and rising global interest rates, were “not likely to contract the economy in the near-term”.

PELICAN BAY’S $4M SPEND TIMELY FOR ‘TECH TOURISM’

THE deputy prime minister has voiced confidence that Freeport’s Pelican Bay hotel will benefit from the technology entrepreneurs he is seeking to lure to Grand Bahama after it invested $4m in upgrading 48 suites.

Chester Cooper, also minister of tourism, investments and aviation, suggested that the resort will be aided by the “tech tourism” market his ministry is targeting for the island. He was accompanied by his 11-member executive team, including Senator Randy Rolle and Ginger Moxey, minister for Grand Bahama.

“An investment of $4m into your property is not just an investment but it is a signal of hope in the economy and the tourism industry here in Grand Bahama, and I want you to know that the executive of the Ministry of Tourism shares that optimism when it comes to the future of tourism in Grand Bahama,” Mr Cooper said.

PM AND DPM ATTEND SANDALS SALES SUMMIT

PRIME Minister Philip Davis KC, and Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister, attended the Sandals Royal Bahamian annual sales summit held recently at the resort chain’s Emerald Bay property in Exuma. The pair were joined by a sales team of more than 100 employees from Unique Vacations, an affiliate of the worldwide representative for Sandals and Beaches Resorts.

“This is a proud day for Grand Bahama, a proud day for Pelican. You’re raising the bar and I want to thank you for doing just that. We hope that in the very near term the signal that you’ve given here with your new renovations will also happen with some of your neighbours.

“I’m particularly excited about your extended stage because we are about to launch the island of Grand Bahama as an innovation centre, and we hope to be able to attract a lot of techies to Grand Bahama. They might decide to make Grand Bahama their home for a couple months at a time to enjoy the special island that we have.”

Mr Cooper said his ministry hopes to begin that process this week when it visits Canada to talk about “tech tourism”. Referring to unofficial tourist arrivals numbers for The Bahamas, he said the statistics showed that visitor numbers reached 7.01m in 2022. He added that this

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compared to 7.2m arrivals for 2019, which was described as a recordbreaking year for Bahamian tourism, and the last year pre-COVID.

Half of Pelican Bay’s revamped 48 state rooms, some 24, will be used for extended stays. “This rebuild and this refresh is going to be good for

tourism on the island of Grand Bahama. So, on behalf of the Government, on behalf of the people of The Bahamas, the minister for Grand Bahama, we extend gratitude for the investment, gratitude for betting on Grand Bahama and for the confidence you display in the

future of tourism and the future of Grand Bahama,”

Mr Cooper said. Magnus Alnebeck, Pelican Bay’s general manager, said the 182-room hotel remained open through hurricanes Matthew and Dorian, as well as COVID-

19. He added that the renovation work on the 48 suites were carried out by

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local contractors. “They are open. There are people sleeping in them tonight. We have most of them occupied,” he added. Pelican Bay has renovated 75 percent of its rooms over the past five years, having carried out a similar renovation after Hurricane Matthew six years ago.

PRIME Minister Philip "Brave" Davis and Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper attended the Sandals Royal Bahamian annual sales summit held in Emerald Bay, Exuma, recently. The pair attended to lend support and were joined by a sales team of more than 100 employees from Unique Vacations Inc, an affiliate of the worldwide representative for Sandals and Beaches Resorts.

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CHESTER COOPER, deputy prime minister and minister of tourism, investments and aviation, during his address at Pelican Bay for the opening of 48-newly renovated suites at the resort.

CHESTER COOPER, deputy prime minister and minister of tourism, investments and aviation; Senator Randy Rolle; Ginger Moxey, minister for Grand Bahama; and tourism executives at the opening of Pelican Bay Hotel’s 48 state rooms following a $4m renovation.

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Minnis: Gov’t is ‘penny wise, pound foolish’ on health VAT

The Ministry of Finance, in its response to criticism levied by the Bahamas Insurance Association (BIA), accused the industry body of seeking to “unnecessarily alarm consumers” about the resulting cost impact from the changed VAT treatment. It described the effects as “insignificant”, and said the change was necessary because allowing insurers to reclaim VAT on claims payouts breaches the law and is depriving the Public Treasury of millions in vital revenues.

However, the BIA’s position received support yesterday from others besides Dr Minnis. Bruce Ferguson, the Bahamas Insurance Brokers Association’s (BIBA) president, told Tribune Business he and his members view the changed VAT treatment as “a cash grab” by the Government that will either force health insurers to raise their premiums or pass the full VAT costs on to their clients - the enduser or the patient.

And Dr Conville Brown, principal of The Bahamas Heart Centre, Cancer Centre Bahamas and The Medical Pavilion Bahamas, told Tribune Business that the move will result in Bahamians “getting royally screwed” through a further increase in the cost of healthcare.

Agreeing that the changed VAT treatment, and its impact, will make healthcare less affordable and accessible to more Bahamians, he added: “We say the health of the nation is the wealth of the nation. Why are we taxing the health of the nation?” Dr Brown also voiced disquiet over the Government’s seeming failure to consult doctors and other medical practitioners on the change and its ramifications.

Dr Minnis, meanwhile, said the social and healthrelated costs associated with increasing the VAT burden on private medical bills would outweigh any revenue benefits for the Government. “The costs will go up and the Government, in Bahamian terminology, will be penny wise and pound foolish,” the ex-prime minister, himself a physician, said.

“Yes, the Government will increase their own revenue, but in the long-run they will be worse than accepting the money. As costs go up, many individuals are living on the edge, especially in these inflationary times. They will sacrifice, drop their insurance, or to maintain their insurance will cut back on healthy meals or buy cheaper foods. It will make them even sicker.

“They drop their insurance, the chronic non-communicable diseases which many

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Bahamians suffer from, they will advance and progress. Many of these are silent, and many individuals will feel they are well.” Dr Minnis suggested that those who are forced to drop private medical insurance and healthcare, due to the increasing cost of both, will likely seek to avoid using the public system as much as possible due to its wellpublicised problems.

They will also cut back on medications, he added, with the end result that they “end up in the emergency room in a worse state and require hospitalisation”, Dr Minnis added. “The hospital is in a mess as it is. The Government is being penny wise and pound foolish... I would not go down a route as to increase taxes on the population. I would not have gone down that route. We must keep healthcare [costs] as minimal as possible”.

The Ministry of Finance, though, is arguing that it is “clearly against the VAT Act” for insurers to claim back the 10 percent levy on medical claims payouts - a practice allegedly costing the Public Treasury millions of dollars. It added that one audit of an unnamed health insurance provider in 2021 showed it had “received over $20m illegally” through this mechanism.

Its, and the Department of Inland Revenue’s position, is that VAT is payable on medical insurance claims payouts because these are being made on behalf of the end-user - the consuming patient - and thus should attract the tax. Health insurers are currently claiming this as ‘input’ VAT, offsetting it against their ‘output’ tax on premiums and effectively allowing the likes of

Colina, Family Guardian and CG Atlantic to claim it back from the Government.

However, the BIA is arguing that the Ministry of Finance is wrong to treat the payment of clients’ medical expenses and the care received from providers as two separate services. Its case is that since health insurance and medical services are both VAT-able, health insurance claims should continue to be tax-deductible for health underwriters, otherwise the Government would be knowingly applying two layers of VAT.

Several sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested that the BIA and its members should challenge the Government’s decision, which is set to take effect from April 1, 2023, before the Tax Appeals Commission. And Mr Ferguson, BIBA’s president, said his members were questioning if the Government is signalling its intent to take over private health insurance in The Bahamas through the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme.

“Obviously it’s not good news as far as clients are concerned because many are perhaps ‘umming’ and ‘erring’ about whether to continue private health insurance with the Government blowing it’s horn about possibly taking it over,” he added. “With everything else going up, and inflation being so high, this is another 10 percent. If insurers add it on, and I can’t see insurers not adding it on, I hope they are aware of the potential consequences.

“It’s highly likely that insurers, if forced into a corner like that, will

actually have to put their premiums up. The timing is very strange. The VAT Act was implemented in 2015, and we’re eight years on and it’s worked very well for the Government since that time. Why this sudden change? Are the Government not raking in enough money already? Quite honestly, we see it as a bit of a cash grab by the Government.”

Agreeing with the BIA that the changed VAT treatment will effectively represent “a tax on a tax”, given that the 10 percent levy is already applied to the premium paid by consumers, Mr Ferguson said the affordability and accessibility of healthcare for Bahamians is of “paramount concern”. Over 100,000 Bahamians and legal residents are thought to have private health insurance, either individually or through their employer.

“You have to wonder if this isn’t part of a softening up process to say to the insurance industry: ‘We can do what we want’,” he mused. “The brokers in our latest meeting were very concerned about what the Government is saying they are doing as that could almost signal the end of the private health insurance industry.”

Dr Brown voiced similar misgivings about the changed VAT treatment for health insurance claims payouts given that the move will likely add to a patient’s financial burden.

“The consumer, at the end of the day, is going to get royally screwed,” he told Tribune Business, citing that a patient with a $10,000 bill for medical care will now be faced with finding a further $1,000 to cover the VAT.

“To me, healthcare should not have been VAT-able in the first place; healthcare and medications,” he added. “These things are to do with your very being, you existence. You say the health of the nation is the wealth of the nation. Why are you taxing the health of the nation?

You’re now making it less accessible because you’re making it more expensive.

“Every time you do that there’s a segment of the population that is not able to afford it. End of the story. That sounds to me like it’s not been very well thought out. What’s worse is that there’s been no consultation. Every time the cost goes up you find there’s a couple of percentage points of people that cannot afford health insurance.

“I don’t think it should be VAT-able. Period. It should not be VAT applicable. The cost is too high and you’re disenfranchising more and more of your population every time you add a new tax to the healthcare expenses of citizens of the country.”

Dr Brown said those in that category will likely drop into the non-insured category and become reliant on the Government healthcare system. “When you do it on a system that is already struggling I don’t know what you expect the outcome to be other than diminished access and a diminished quality of healthcare services. I’m not sure they’re thinking that through,” he added.

Governor eyes IMF-beating 4-6% GDP growth for 2023

The IMF, which is due to release its updated World Economic Outlook today, is this far forecasting a 4.1 percent increase in economic output (GDP) for The Bahamas in 2023. The World Bank, too, is predicting the same level of growth, which places Mr Rolle’s estimates at the upper end of their range and, indeed, slightly above.

“If reflects the fact we are still recovering to baseline for the tourism sector,” the Governor added of the growth forecasts, asserting that “the economy is back to almost 100 percent”.

However, he warned that The Bahamas must seek out new economic growth drivers beyond 2023 to continue beating historical trends.

“Once we move beyond 2023, we expect that at least on a calendar year basis, tourism would have regained the output lost during the pandemic, and therefore the economy will settle into lower average growth rates,” he added. “That, in itself, is not an area of concern because it reflects the level of growth we’ve historically

experienced in The Bahamas year-over-year.”

This nation has traditionally relied on external drivers, namely tourism and “the impetus” from foreign direct investment (FDI), to drive GDP expansion. However, previous IMF studies have suggested that consistent annual economic growth of between 4-5 percent - at least double The Bahamas’ long-run average - is required to both slash existing unemployment by 50 percent and fully absorb the 5,000 high school leavers into the workforce every year.

In a nod to the implications of returning to traditional growth rates post-2023, Mr Rolle said: “The issue for us is that it means The Bahamas will be back closer in line with its longer-term growth potential, which stands closer to 2 percent on average.... I think it’s slightly less than 2 percent.

“If there is an issue, the issue is not so much the economy settling into its potential [long-term] rate next year but, really, what it is we can all work on to increase potential growth, and that will not be

independent of how things look in 2024.”

The Governor also suggested that the Bahamian economy’s growth could beaten the IMF’s 8 percent projection for 2022 or, at worst, come in one percentage point lower. “It is likely that the economy grew by between 7 and 9 percent in 2022, mostly driven by rebounded tourism inflows. Foreign investment activities also provided steady stimulus, concentrated in tourism development projects and residential real estate,” he added.

“Although official data were not available, it is expected that the unemployment rate eased considerably in 2022 from the deteriorated state of the previous two years. Nevertheless, the pace of the labour market’s recovery still trails the GDP performance, because the recovery has, above all, had to restore jobs lost or placed on hold during the pandemic even as new persons continued to enter the labour force.”

Describing foreign exchange flows, and demand, as “real-time indicators of the recovery”, Mr Rolle said: “On the inflow

side, commercial banks’ total foreign currency purchases from the private sector rose by approximately one-third to $7.2bn in 2022, propelled by both tourism and foreign investment receipts.

“In the meantime, as private sector demand strengthened, commercial banks’ sales of foreign exchange to accommodate international payments increased by almost 30 percent to approximately $7bn.” With the private sector’s foreign exchange earnings stronger than its outgoings, Mr Rolle said the positive difference created a “net inflow” in 2022 to boost the external reserves that support the one:one foreign exchange peg with the US dollar.

The external reserves were further aided by the Government shifting the timing of its external foreign currency bond issue, which raised around $385m gross, to the 2022 first half as they also benefited from these inflows. As a result, the country’s external reserves increased by $137.37m during 2022 to close the year at $2.596bn.

Mr Rolle made little mention of the Government’s

FINANCIAL STABILITY COUNCIL TO DEVELOP ‘CRISIS PLAYBOOK’

the initiative was “not triggered by any concerns about

the state of financial stability, but it’s really informed by the evolution of the work we’re doing in The Bahamas

to strengthen co-ordinated oversight of the financial services sector.

“The purpose of having a Financial Stability Council or group that spans regulators, and even draws in the Government itself, it is recognising [there are] instances when a response might be needed, or in instances where medium or long-term projections suggest problems could be on the horizon or it’s necessary to take measures that span across a single set of institutions that may be required,” Mr Rolle added.

“From that point of view, the Financial Stability Council, it becomes useful in developing a playbook for how we should react in a crisis, as well as focusing on certain standards that should apply consistently in terms of the behaviour, particularly in terms of lenders or borrowers and investment markets so that the system evolves in an orderly fashion.”

The Governor, who gave no timelines for the Financial Stability Council’s creation, added that it will also enable the Government and financial services regulators to “collectively monitor how things are evolving in the economy and pose questions to ourselves. And, if we are not satisfied, to be able to agree on what should be the collective intervention”.

Elsewhere, Mr Rolle described plans to create a movable collateral registry as “a very important project for the Central Bank in

borrowing of up to $233m in IMF special drawing rights (SDRs) from the external reserves, a transaction that has aroused significant controversy amid accusations that this is not supported by law, other than to acknowledge it is happening.

“At the close of January 2023, the external balances were still very close to this level [$2.6bn], just before the anticipated seasonal build-up that is expected through the first half of the year,” Mr Rolle said. “It is likely that as domestic demand further picks up, and commercial bank lending increases marginally in relation to 2022, the external reserves will close out 2023 at a stable to slightly decreased position from their present levels.

“This continues to be a healthy assessment for the reserves, which is also in keeping with anticipated further rebuilding from Hurricane Dorian and use of reinsurance proceeds that are still inside the reserves.” As for the banking sector, Mr Rolle said deposit growth driven by converted foreign exchange inflows, as well as a further reduction in outstanding private sector credit, drove

2023”. He added that the goal was to finalise the enabling legislation and legal framework this year, and for the BIll to go “through the Government approval process” although he made no mention of Parliament.

The Central Bank previously released the Movable Property Security Interest Bill 2022 for consultation and feedback as it seeks to transform secured lending in The Bahamas by enabling entrepreneurs, start-ups and micro, small and mediumsized businesses to pledge mobile assets - such as vehicles and equipment - to lenders as security for credit they extend.

So-called “intangible assets” - accounts receivables (factoring) and intellectual property rights - could also be used as loan collateral under the Bill, with the registry securing the rights of both lenders and borrowers by registering liens, mortgages and other charges over such assets.

Mr Rolle, identifying the registry as an initiative that will receive the Central Bank’s focused attention from the 2023 first quarter onwards, said the regulator will issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) to identify someone to develop the registry’s electronic, online infrastructure.

“We’ll also be communicating back to the Government on the legal framework that’s proposed and will be part of the consultation,” he added. “We should expect this year that the legislation will be

excess system liquidity to $2.773bn at year-end 2022.

“While the economy has improved the debt servicing capacity of many existing borrowers, it has not yet resulted in any meaningful increase in the qualified pool of new borrowers, either for consumer loans, mortgages or enterprise lending,” Mr Rolle said.

“As to credit risks, at the end of 2022, the average delinquency rate on private credit had fallen back below 8 percent, which was also slightly below the nonperforming loans rate that was also trending lower just before the pandemic’s interruption.

“The Central Bank expects this improvement to continue over the mediumterm. In the meantime, commercial banks’ lending is expected to increase incrementally in 2023, although this is still dependent on the characteristic of new potential borrowers who are entering the job market, as those gaining posts in tourism are considered riskier prospects.”

finalised and taken through the Government approvals process. We’re going to be intensely focused around the execution of the platform for the collateral registry.

“There’s one aspect of that which will come out in the public consultation. It’s not a difficult issue to resolve, but it’s an important one. What does this registry look like, and who operates it? We know it will be digital and online, but we need to be careful not to build too much super structure to support the collateral registry. There will be some important decisions around how we source operations of the registry,”

Mr Rolle, arguing that “net oversubscriptions” for the Government’s Bahamian dollar debt show institutional investors are not yet at their prudential and regulatory limits in terms of how much they can acquire, added that the proposed “savings bond” - designed to encourage small, individual investors to save and give them access to higher return-yielding securities - will “come on stream over the course of 2023”.

Confirming that the Central Bank is “very close to sharing” the work it has done on the initiative with the Ministry of Finance, he said: “It targets the smaller individual, retail investor that takes a disciplined longterm approach to saving.” Mr Rolle also asserted that it is “not a stop-gap measure for the Government’s financing needs”.

• Maintains accounting records by making copies; filing documents.

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• Accomplishes accounting and organization mission by completing related results as needed.

• Compiling daily cash collection report. Interested persons should email their resume to careers@ chancesgames.com. or visit our Head Office on Prince Charles Drive (across from Restview Funeral Home) between the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Jarol Investments Limited is seeking to fill the following position: Accounts Clerk (Nassau)

Cheque elimination not a ‘simple flip of switch’

the relative speed at which the public are migrating to digital payments.

“Wrapped up in that is not just the issue of how the public are migrating, but the general financial inclusion with it so we address the access issue. These are

three very important key performance indicators we will be targeting and tracking in the coming months and years to make certain of meaningful progress towards our end goals.”

Mr Rolle said the Central Bank was also assessing what reforms need to be made to the payments system’s legislative and regulatory framework to facilitate such changes, and added of the cheque elimination strategy: “It is appreciated it’s still a very sensitive issue and it will not be as simple as just a flip of the switch.”

The Governor added that Bahamian payment providers are working towards an end-2023 first quarter target of enabling all persons holding Sand Dollar accounts to transfer funds seamlessly between their online fiat bank accounts and electronic wallets

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that CELISSA PHILIPPE of Fowler Street off East Street, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 24th day of January, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that SHANTE IEASHA JOHNSON of Mason’s Addition, Nassau, The Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 24th day of January, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that ASHLEY CHERY of Sutton Street, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 24th day of January, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that ABIGAIL SHANTOL TIBBY of #4 Williams Drive, St. Vincent, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 31st day of January, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that RICARDO TOUSSAINT of P.O. Box N-9426, Carmichael Road, Nassau, The Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 24th day of January, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that JUMELLE WALLACE of Cox Street off Bernard Road, Nassau, The Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 24th day of January, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE

days from the 24th day of January, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

holding the Central Bank Digital Currency.

“One of the things I want to say also, so people get it very clear, is that it’s about making sure that every person in The Bahamas has legitimate options and means to receive payments digitally. Whether they choose to do so or not, they legitimately need the ability to do so,” Mr Rolle added.

“That’s not the case at the moment in The Bahamas.”

Access to digital payment options currently depends on location, and the island that Bahamians are living on, as well as their ability to access the Internet via computer or mobile phone.

“Cash is not going anywhere soon. Our goal is to encourage the reduction of cash,” the Governor added.

“The Family Islands, we need to allow them to participate on the same level playing field as those that have the same convenience

in New Providence and other economic sectors.”

Mr Rolle, meanwhile, said it was hard to determine if inflation rates in The Bahamas have peaked yet. “Average inflation rates in The Bahamas are lower than in the US,” he added. “To the extent we trail the US, we could certainly see further rises in inflation before they taper off.”

GIven that The Bahamas imports virtually all it consumes, Mr Rolle said a prolonged period of heightened inflation will suck up a greater proportion of The Bahamas’ foreign exchange earnings to finance consumption habits. Spending and business investment could also be negatively impacted, and he added that it was vital to manage inflationary expectations so that inflation does not become a “self-sustaining” spiral driven by both price and wage increases.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that DJANESLY FANFAN of P.O. Box FH-14406 Kool Acres, Fox Hill, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 24th day of January, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that JHOMO MZAMDA GRAHAM of P.O Box N4655, Tall Pines, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 31st day of January, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.