04172020 BUSINESS

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FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020

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Govt ‘taking from Peter to pay Paul’ BPL finances ‘more DESMOND BANNISTER

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

T

HE government is performing a high-wire juggling act with its finances by “robbing Peter to pay Paul” to meet critical liabilities as they become due, the deputy prime minister revealed yesterday.

K Peter Turnquest told Tribune Business that the Minnis administration is being forced to switch scarce resources around to meet key spending priorities and commitments as a

• Juggling liabilities as revenue dries up • DPM: ‘An uncomfortable position to be in’ • Chamber urges VAT quarterly filing ‘deferral’

K PETER TURNQUEST

result of COVID-19 having reduced revenue flows to a trickle.

Acknowledging that it was “an uncomfortable position to be in”, Mr Turnquest said the government is also deferring obligations where it can as it seeks to ride out the remainder of the 2019-2020 fiscal year ahead of the May budget.

Questioned by this

newspaper about the pandemic’s impact on the government’s own income, he replied: “I have to ask you: What revenue? It doesn’t take much to figure out that we’ve had a significant deterioration in tax collections at this point, which is why it’s important that those who are able to

SEE PAGE 4

S&P: Bahamas to shrink by 16%

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

DIONISIO D’AGUILAR

Tourism has ‘no choice’ to devise virus safeguards

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN tourism is going to “have to live with” COVID-19 and devise measures to reassure both visitors and industry employees that the sector is safe, a Cabinet minister warned yesterday.

SEE PAGE 7

STANDARD & Poor’s (S&P) last night forecast that the Bahamian economy will shrink by an “unprecedented” 16 percent in 2020 as it further downgraded this nation’s sovereign creditworthiness.

The rating agency, following swiftly behind its Moody’s counterpart, cut The Bahamas’ sovereign rating from “BB+” to “BB” due to the severity of the economic contraction the COVID-19 pandemic will inflict on this nation.

Citing The Bahamas’ tourism dependency as a major factor behind its action, S&P forecast that Bahamian economic output or gross domestic product (GDP) will shrink by twice as much as the 8.3 percent

Price regulator in egg shortage fear

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE Price Control Commission’s (PCC) chairman yesterday said he had urged the Government to cut the duty rate on eggs by two-thirds as he warned consumers to brace for shortages within a week.

Danny Sumner told Tribune Business: “Items that are price controlled under the breadbasket items list, they are VAT free. Most items that are not price controlled that are out there are dutiable and carry VAT. That’s why I say with eggs, for example, a lot of people don’t realise eggs carry a very high rate of duty, which is 30 percent and, of course, 12 percent VAT, which makes it 42 percent.

“Eggs are on the extended list, but not the breadbasket

items list. Eggs are still dutiable, and then the mark-up price for eggs is ten percent.

So that is 52 percent on those eggs before it gets in those consumers’ hands.”

Mr Sumner added, “In addition to that, the eggs that you see here are imported. The importation varies. Every year around this same time we do have an egg shortage from the egg farmers in Florida. I watched the local Floridian news yesterday, and the news were saying that there is an egg shortage in the Miami-Dade area.

“The farmers were saying that it will come a time when there would be a major egg shortage in the Florida area, but it has not gotten here yet, so let us see what happens. But there may be a possibility that there may be

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HOTEL UNION CLARIFICATION DARRIN Woods, the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) president, yesterday clarified that the “advance” financing the assistance being provided to its 5,500 members next week is NOT a loan which they or the union have to repay.

He explained that the union will later have to

“reconcile” the value, and quantity, of aid provided to its members which is being funded by the industry’s Health and Welfare Fund. But no financial burden will be imposed on them or the BHCAWU. Mr Woods acknowledged there may have been a “miscommunication”, and Tribune Business is happy to set the record straight.

and eight percent contractions previously forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Moody’s, respectively.

“The tourism industry accounts for more than 40 percent of the Bahamian economy, with the majority of visitors arriving from North America,” S&P analysts, Jennifer Love and Julia Smith, wrote in their report.

“We expect the severe contraction in tourism because of the COVID-19 pandemic will lead to a significant and unprecedented contraction in GDP, which we forecast will fall by about 16 percent in 2020.

As a result, we expect GDP per capita to shrink to just above US$27,800 this year.”

K Peter Turnquest, deputy prime minister, responded to S&P’s move by last night reiterating that numerous

other countries are also being downgraded by the rating agencies due to the havoc COVID-19 is wreaking on their economies.

Describing The Bahamas’ latest downgrade as unfortunate but “not unexpected”, Mr Turnquest said S&P’s action was “not something in our control at the moment” with the government’s main priority continuing to be providing financial assistance to those in need to prevent a complete collapse in living standards and surge in poverty.

“It’s the same all across the world.

Countries are being faced with the same challenges,” he told Tribune Business. “For tourism-dependent countries like ours the effects are a little more significant so it’s

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perilous every day’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMAS Power & Light (BPL) has been unable to exploit the alltime low in global oil prices, a Cabinet minister revealed yesterday, adding: “Its finances get more and more perilous every day.”

Desmond Bannister, minister of works, told Tribune Business that the state-owned utility simply “doesn’t have the money” to either hedge its fuel prices or buy significant quantities at current market rates.

He added that BPL was in talks with the Ministry of Finance to address this and other challenges it faces given that the collapse in global oil prices potentially represents one of the few forms of relief available to struggling Bahamian companies and households amid the COVID-19 fall-out.

However, Mr Bannister said any effort by BPL to take advantage of the decline for the consumer’s benefit will “not have amounted to much”. He argued that the pandemic had struck when the utility was “particularly vulnerable”, having been in the middle of efforts to achieve financial sustainability through its planned $580m bond placement.

The minister yesterday acknowledged that the refinancing had been delayed indefinitely since COVID-19’s impact on the

international capital markets had made it impossible to obtain the bond interest rate that BPL was seeking.

“BPL doesn’t have the money to do it,” Mr Bannister replied, when asked by Tribune Business yesterday if it had been able to generate significant customer savings by purchasing its summer fuel amid the oil market low.

“BPL is liaising with the Ministry of Finance to see whether that’s at all possible. They want to be able to hedge, and we believe they can have the expertise to hedge, but BPL simply does not have the money to do it. They have a [fuel] stock in place and commitments through a certain period, so they have to go through their stock.

“The ability to hedge, and ability to purchase at the current market price, would be based on having funds available, which they don’t.

I can’t say they haven’t been doing so, but if they have it has not been much.”

Oil prices last night stood at $28.62 per barrel under the Brent Crude index, and at just $19.90 on the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) indicator. The slump in global demand due to the COVID-19 crisis, together with the price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, drove the oil industry to an all-time low.

However, the world’s largest oil producers responded

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PAGE 2, Friday, April 17, 2020

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HE largest, and most immediate, economic disrupter for The Bahamas and the world as a result of COVID-19 is the loss of employment for so many. Reports estimate that over 50 million jobs could be lost in the US alone.

With 64 percent of Bahamian gross domestic product (GDP) derived from the tourism and hospitality industry, and most jobs being either directly or indirectly linked to the industry, our unemployment numbers are nothing short of depressing. From the self-employed to hotel workers, restaurant employees, craft vendors and construction workers, Bahamians are struggling to make ends meet.

Every day for the past month, companies have been being forced to layoff employees in the hope of achieving some form of financial stability to help survive the storm. While we are all optimistic that a

THE TRIBUNE

How to keep firms and workers viable turnaround will eventually come, for the short-term, people are out of work.

What is most difficult to manage is the fact that the slowdown in economic activity has also handicapped potential entrepreneurial endeavours. People are simply not in a position to pay for goods and services that are regarded as essential, much less those that are not. The economic burden placed on the public purse has become overwhelming, and is certainly not sustainable. We need solutions.

Throughout the world, employers are concerned about losing great employees who they simply cannot pay for extended periods of time during the downturn.

In survival mode, leaders are making tough decisions in boardrooms across the globe.

This week, we offer five possible scenarios that you might wish to explore as you seek to keep your best employees engaged and your business viable.

1. Reduced hours. In scenario one, you limit the operational hours of your business or have your staff work reduced hours on rotation. This allows you to provide the goods and services you provide (as long as you are permitted to do so by the government), while also allowing your employees to receive some form of income.

2. Vacation leave. In some work environments,

employees have accrued large amounts of vacation leave. This might be the perfect opportunity to have employees take the vacation leave they have earned, so that when business activity resumes they do not have large sums of time still owed to them.

3. Vacation leave without pay. If the options are layoffs or extended vacations without pay, most employees will opt for the latter.

Some employees could live with knowing that, following the pandemic, they have a job to return to. It might be heart-warming to the employee to know that National Insurance payments are still being made on their behalf.

4. Renegotiate the terms

of the contract. Rehiring employees as consultants with commission-based deliverables might be an option employers can consider. What this pandemic has taught us all is that the need for a traditional workspace, church sanctuary or conference hall is no longer necessary. Remotely working consultants, who are paid based on what they deliver, might be the saving grace for many employers.

5. Reduction of benefits.

This is certainly the time to look into cutting the excess. Losing commissions, bonuses, lunch vouchers or any other workplace benefit might be welcomed by many during this time of great sacrifice. It will signal to the employee that you are making efforts to keep them engaged. What employees need most during these times of great uncertainty is some assurance that their jobs, livelihood and careers are secure.

• NB: Ian R Ferguson is a talent management and

IAN FERGUSON BY

organisational development consultant, having completed graduate studies with regional and international universities. He has served organsations, both locally and globally, providing relevant solutions to their business growth and development issues. He may be contacted at tcconsultants@ coralwave.com.

VIRUS ‘HAMPERS’ OIL EXPLORER FUND LISTING Pharmacists: No issues despite long client lines

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A BAHAMAS-based oil explorer says the London listing - and trading - of shares in an investment fund it promoted to local investors has “been significantly hampered and thus delayed” by COVID-19.

Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC), which has already delayed the drilling of its first exploratory well in Bahamian waters until late May/early June, said in a statement that plans to list the BPC Investment Fund on the UK’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) have also been impacted by the virus.

The fund, which was

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sponsored by the oil exploration outfit, was targeted at “sophisticated” Bahamian investors to give them an opportunity to participate in the potential rewards should BPC’s activities uncover commercial quantities of recoverable oil.

Some 35.337m BPC ordinary shares have already been allocated to the BPC Investment Fund, which can only invest in the oil explorer. BPC had planned for trading in the fund’s shares to begin on Tuesday, April 14, but revealed this week that this date has been missed as “necessary administrative processes in The Bahamas” are still being completed.

“Admission to trading on AIM of the fund shares did not take place... as previously announced, as the Fund is yet to complete certain necessary administrative processes in The Bahamas,” BPC said.

“The Fund’s ability to undertake this action has

been significantly hampered, and thus delayed, by the state of emergency declared and ongoing business disruption caused by the national response to the COVID-19 outbreak in The Bahamas.

“The expected admission date for the fund shares will be announced once timing for completion of the necessary administrative processes is known with certainty. The company notes that, notwithstanding the delay in allotment, the subscription funds, amounting to approximately $0.9m in respect of the fund shares, reside in the mutual fund account.”

The BPC fund’s “professional fund” status meant it could only seek investments from so-called “sophisticated” investors, such as institutions and high net worth individuals, willing to commit a minimum $10,000 while excluding smaller Bahamian retail investors from any involvement.

While some Bahamian retail investors are likely to have been unhappy at their exclusion, others will argue that the fund’s status as a “professional” fund is entirely appropriate as the investment opportunity is only suitable for sophisticated investors able to both understand its high reward/high risk potential and absorb any subsequent losses.

For BPC is effectively a start-up, yet to drill its first well and with a history of financial losses. And, for all its research to “de-risk” the project, there is no 100 percent certainty that commercial quantities of recoverable oil lie below The Bahamas’ sea bed.

As a result, many capital markets observers will likely view the BPC Investment Fund offering as more a venture capital/ private equity investment play rather than an opportunity for small retail investors who can ill-afford any major loss.

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net PHARMACISTS say they are experiencing no problems fulfilling patient prescriptions despite the long queues and wait times following the Easter weekend lockdown.

Clinton McCartney, head pharmacist at McCartney’s Pharmacy, told Tribune Business: “We still have a lot of lines because it still takes a little while to prepare prescriptions. But we are taking it one by one and we are asking customers to be patient. Most of our customers are seniors anyway, but we are asking them to wait in the cars or drop it off and come back later.

“We are just asking people to be patient and we will try to accommodate everybody, but it just takes a little bit more patience.

We will try to do the best

we can to make everybody comfortable.

Especially with the elderly people we try our best, but sometimes some people have four to ten different items and it takes a while, so just be patient.”

Deyar Knowles, head pharmacist at Centreville Pharmacy No.1, said: “Things are still busy and there is still a line outside.

We are still limiting to a few persons in the store. It may taper off later in the week.”

Jorez Chisolm, head pharmacist at West Bay Friendly Pharmacy, added: “Lines are still long and people are still coming for medication consistently. We are trying to be here for as long as we can and for as much time as we can. There are no issues with handling senior citizens thus far. We are consistently serving people daily, and we have no problems on this end.”

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Friday, April 17, 2020, PAGE 3

‘HURTING’ WEDDING PLANNERS ALLEGE NIB DENIED SUPPORT

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net WEDDINGS industry professionals yesterday said they are “hurting desperately” due to the COVID-19 pandemic but allege they have been denied assistance from the National Insurance Board (NIB).

Cindy Coakley-Knowles, the Bahamas Bridal Association’s president, told Tribune Business: “Speaking with my members, and the association comprises of marriage officers, florists, entertainers, wedding planners, anybody that is involved with weddings, we

represent them.

“Upon touching base with them initially we were all experiencing a lot of postponements, because we all cater to the tourist business for the most part.

Then all of those postponements turned into cancellations, so we are all hurting desperately.

“Very few of us, like myself, maybe five or ten percent of our business is local, and it is the local business that is still holding on to being postponed.

I’m rare in that all of my international business is just postponed and is on wait and see, and I have one of my local events where one of my brides was supposed

BROKERS REPORT NEW ISSUES WITH CUSTOMS’ CLICK2CLEAR

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net BROKERS yesterday said they have encountered more problems with Customs’ new electronic goods clearance system although the situation seemed to be improving.

Lance Major, in-house customs broker for the d’Albenas Agency, told Tribune Business: “This system is just running really, really slow. Sometimes it shuts you out and it goes down, and you have a whole lot of stuff to put through. That is just how it was. It was just ridiculous, but today it was back up and looks like we can get certain things done. So it was some improvement yesterday.

“It was just running extremely slow and it was taking hours to put in one entry, but it has improved today. The first part of the week straight from Tuesday, from the first working day until yesterday [Wednesday] it was terrible, but today was much better. So I don’t know what they did.

They probably got it up and running better, and it may have been some glitches were there that they worked out.

“To tell you the truth we were off from last week Wednesday, Thursday.

We did nothing from last week Thursday, and when we came back to work on Tuesday we found out nothing was working. But yesterday it was working

fine. Yesterday it was 100 percent better.”

Kenneth Gibson, chief executive of Five Star Brokers, added: “We were just down for a couple of days.

They were probably doing maintenance or something on the Click2Clear because we couldn’t get on since last week Friday.

They must have done something but everything is up and running this morning.

Everything is back in order now.”

The nationwide roll-out of Customs’ Electronic Single Window (ESW) platform, known as Click2Clear, has been accompanied by concerns ever since it took place last year. Numerous Customs brokers have complained about the lack of consistency with the platform, the length of time it takes to upload information and other issues they say impact the ease and speed of conducting business.

However, while acknowledging some problems, the Ministry of Finance and Customs have pushed back by arguing that the criticisms were coming from persons who failed to attend training sessions and understand Click2Clear’s functions prior to its launch.

Responding to the latest concerns, Marlon Johnson, the Ministry of Finance’s acting financial secretary, said he was unaware of any new issues and referred Tribune Business and to the Customs Comptroller. Dr Geanine Moss could not be reached for comment.

FOOD SECURITY NEEDS ADDITIONAL ‘REAL STEPS’

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas Light Industries Development Council (BLIDC) says other “real steps that need to be taken” besides creating a Food Security Task Force to help spur local production.

Karla Wells-Lisgaris, the Council’s vice-president, responding to the prime minister’s plans to create such a body, told Tribune Business: “Our members include people in traditional manufacturing like beverages and chemicals; light industries like the print shops; and the agro-processors.

“Through all of this [pandemic] the majority of our members have been open, companies like Caribbean Bottling, Aquapure, Blanco Chemicals, Commonwealth Brewery obviously to a lesser extent, even though they are the manufacturers of Vitamalt, and the print shops.

“So for us I think it is important for people to have an appreciation of the importance of having a local presence. There are lots of concerns about food shortages, so Purity Bakery is operational and has had no shortage issues even though the shelves have been empty from time to time,” she added.

“That’s has been more of a logistical issue in terms of the opening times of the food stores versus the opening times for the curfew to allow our operations, so we have been in constant communication with the government and it has been a pretty

easy process in getting the exemption.”

Ms Wells-Lisgaris added: “I think the dialogue along food security is very timely. We at the BLDIC, in better times, have been in communication with the government on what they can do to help make food manufacturing here more feasible. It is complicated but it’s not at the same time, and I think we as a country have been teetering on this conversation on food security for a while.

“I think there are some other real steps that need to be taken. For example, something that is potentially simple - and I know the insurance industry would disagree - is crop insurance.

Elsewhere in the world they have crop insurance.

“Here, where we have hurricanes and also, potentially, you can have a dry season and lose your entire harvest, I don’t know of any local insurance companies that provide crop insurance.

In another lifetime I used to work very closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and I was informed that no companies provided crop insurance.”

Ms Wells-Lisgaris continued: “There are different pieces of legislation that provide incentives to local manufacturing. You have the Industries Encouragement Act and you have the Agricultural Manufacturers Act, and they all have different rules.

“I am not saying necessarily one sector gets more benefits than the other, but

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to have gotten married on April 11.”

Ms Coakley-Knowles, who is the owner of Destination Weddings International, added: “We have found ourselves having to fall under that [self-employed] category with the National Insurance Board through the assistance package that the government has provided, but none of us have been fortunate. Because we are not straw vendors or taxi cab drivers, it is not easy for NIB to comprehend.

“An example that myself and another planner went through is that we submitted our business license.

My license says Destination

Weddings International, and I submitted a letter that is signed-off by the Ministry of Tourism explaining that what the BBA is and I am the president. I got a letter back from NIB saying that was not sufficient information to prove that I was a tourist-based business. That is beyond ridiculous.”

Ms Coakley-Knowles said NIB instructed her to go directly to the Ministry of Finance if she and her members wanted financial assistance since it was unable to help her.

Tribune Business saw a copy of the response e-mail that was sent to Ms Coakley-Knowles, which appears to be from the NIB claims

department and dated April 1. It said: “We regret to inform you that your application for the government assistance: Self-employed unemployment benefit has been denied for the following reason. You did not provide any document showing that you worked in the tourism sector as a self-employed person.”

Dr Nicola Virgil-Rolle, NIB’s director, yesterday said she was unaware of the issues being experienced by Ms Coakley-Knowles and the other wedding planners. “The rules are quite clear,” she added. “The persons from the non-tourism sector need their business license, and for persons from tourism we have it

all outlined on our website.

The rules are quite clear.”

Ms Coakley-Knowles, meanwhile, said: “The Ministry of Tourism and Aviation has been working with me in terms of the way forward on the marketing perspective.

“With the assistance of the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation, the BBA is ready on day one postCOVID-19 to commence our marketing strategies in promoting our products and services to get business flowing back into the islands of The Bahamas. Right now we’re continuing other marketing strategies through our social media platforms like Instagram and our Facebook pages.”

Digital economy in key rebound role THE COVID-19 pandemic’s jolt to speedup digitisation, and the growth of online e-commerce activity, will ensure they both have a role in economic recovery, a Bahamian financial analyst believes.

Brian Jones, Leno’s managing director of wealth solutions, said that while the COVID-19 shutdown is a voluntary and temporary halt for the economy, it demonstrates how critical operating in an environment other than “person-to-person” can be.

Mr Jones, who stopped short of describing the sudden recognition of how important e-commerce and alternative payment solutions have become as a silver lining amid temporary business closures and rising unemployment, said there is reason for optimism moving forward.

“While there is tremendous cause for concern, this was a voluntary economic shutdown caused by a temporary health crisis,” said Mr Jones. “But it is just that; temporary. These are unprecedented times, but folks will get back to business. While COVID19 has seemingly brought most things to a halt, it will also jump start many new

BRIAN JONES initiatives out of the disruption we are currently facing.”

Mr Jones projected a series of changes, many of them altering a Bahamian economic model that is so heavily dependent upon tourism. Among the most promising overall changes, he argued, is speeding up digitisation so that commerce does not stop because a door is closed.

“The Bahamas, like many other countries around the world, must accelerate our national digitisation agenda, which can allow us to push the pedal and move with speed when global economic conditions return to normal. The resiliency of the economies in countries such as Estonia are proving that throughout this crisis,

digitisation is more crucial now than ever,” said Mr Jones.

“New Fintech and e-commerce businesses, along with the coming national launch of the Sand Dollar, provide platforms and tools for the economy to function more efficiently as all sorts of business functions and activities can be carried out in a completely virtual environmen.”

Mr Jones also predicted an increased focus on building infrastructure, ranging from physical plants including hospitals and other medical facilities to creating secure platforms for trade and the ease of doing business.

He believes COVID-19, like no other crisis before it, has demonstrated the need for greater food security, local production of essential goods and parallel streams for conducting commerce.

Maintaining health insurance will assume a more prominent role, and those who can afford it may resume saving for “a rainyday fund.”

The government, Mr Jones added, will need to work more closely than ever with the private sector to ensure funds are available for jump-starting the economy and acting as a shock absorber. He foresees more

attention on fixing the skills gap between available jobs and labour, and believes this is an ideal time to look at an ongoing virtual education programme.

“We see from looking at history, this is not the first time something like this has happened, and it’s also likely that it will not be the last,” Mr Jones added.

“Growth lies in ingenuity, and we will also see many start-ups emerge to solve some of the new problems that have arisen due to the crisis. Several of the top unicorn companies in the world today were started during the last major economic downturn over one decade ago.”

Sectors likely to hold their own over the long-term, even if there is a temporary halt, said Mr Jones, are prime residential real estate in The Bahamas; precious metals including gold and silver; biotechnology; pharmaceuticals; and certain medical companies and digital asset and payment solutions.

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PAGE 4, Friday, April 17, 2020

FOOD SECURITY NEEDS ADDITIONAL ‘REAL STEPS’ FROM PAGE THREE specifically for the Agricultural Manufacturers Act, that piece of legislation was set up from the 1950s, I believe, and the way it is set up is that there is a set list of items that people in agriculture can draw from.

“But today we have hydroponic suppliers, so their pieces of equipment obviously were not in existence when this legislation was crafted. A lot of people in agriculture have an issue where they need this particular thing in duty-free, but the Act does not call for it.

So they are told they cannot get it in because that is not one of the listed items. Really, if a water producer gets it in duty-free, why can’t agriculturalists get it in free?” she asked.

“At the same time, if you really want to spur local production, then you need to have systems in place that will make it profitable for the company. While it is all and good and well to say you are feeding the nation, if you are not making money on it then it is not sustainable and you may be in business for two years trying to swim but you will sink at some point.”

Disclosing how Council members have adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms Wells-Lisgris said: “Some of our members have been able to switch from their normal manufacturing. About two weeks ago, the CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) in the United States made this shift in the messaging on the masks.

“Before that, people were saying not to wear masks unless you are sick and save the N-95 for healthcare professionals. So I messaged Bahama Handprint to see if they have given any thought into making masks. I know their fabric is not necessarily the thickest, but at least it can stop an asymptomatic infected person from spreading it.

“They said ‘yes, of course they can do this’, and it would be good for them to keep their seamstresses to get some money in their pocket. So instantly they were able to start producing masks. Take for example, Cartwright’s Bedding. They normally produce bedding, and they also now are producing masks.”

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Govt ‘taking from Peter to pay Paul’ FROM PAGE ONE make their payments do so.

“Again, we have to continue to rob Peter to pay Paul. It’s just the reality of where we are, and whenever you’re in those circumstances it’s uncomfortable but that does not mean the liability goes away. It means you defer it, and that’s always an uncomfortable position to be in.”

Mr Turnquest said he could not provide figures for the revenue decline, but it comes as little surprise given the tourism shutdown and subsequent economic lockdown produced by COVID-19. The government’s income is derived from economic activity, primarily consumption, via VAT and border taxes; tourism; real estate; and business licences, most of which has come to a complete halt.

He added that the government was preparing for “a very low revenue year” in 2020-2021 due to COVID-19’s lingering economic fall-out, with the Ministry of Finance asking all ministries and public sector agencies to scour their budgets for spending cuts and savings during both the remainder of this fiscal year and next.

“We have asked the ministries and agencies to review their budgets and look for non-discretionary expenditure that we might be able to once again defer or reprioritise, particularly this coming year given what we anticipate will be a low revenue year,” Mr Turnquest added.

“The same applies to the remainder of this fiscal year.

We’re asking the agencies to be as conservative as possible as we make our way through this period.”

Yet while The Bahamas may be facing further fiscal austerity, the deputy prime minister blasted the opposition’s leader for causing unwarranted “anxiety” by alleging that the government was planning to cut civil service salaries.’

Philip Davis, in a late night statement on Wednesday, said: “I have learned today that the government is proposing matters which, in fact, might severely reduce domestic spending and demand. There is a proposal to force cuts in all ministries, including possibly the salaries of public servants.”

But Mr Turnquest, vehemently rejecting the claim, said: “The government of The Bahamas has not put forth any proposal or recommendation for a reduction in the public service payroll. It is unfortunate that the leader of the opposition has sought to add additional anxiety to a country that is already fearful of the health crisis, and what that may mean for their families, as well as the financial crisis.

“I don’t know what leader operates off rumours, but I guess that says more about him. The government of The Bahamas has made no such recommendation.

Certainly the Ministry of Finance has not, and I don’t believe the Ministry of Public Service has made any recommendation with respect to trimming salaries at this time.”

Cutting the $700m-plus annual civil service wage bill at this time would likely be unwise given that it

would likely drop consumer spending to almost-negligible levels. The public sector, and its 20,000-plus employees, remain one of the few consistent sources of aggregate demand left in The Bahamas given the mass lay-offs and struggles in the private sector.

The latter, through the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC), last night urged the Government to defer the upcoming April 21 VAT filing/payment for quarterly filers to provide such micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) with the cash flow and financial breathing room to sustain themselves until the lockdown ends.

Jeffrey Beckles, the chamber’s chief executive, said of the private sector’s rationale for the plea: “It’s going to give them an opportunity to breathe. We want to exploit opportunities as far as we can go to give them the tools to get through this downturn.

That’s what the chamber has committed to do. We wish we had a magic potion, but until that time we have to figure out the best way to give them a fighting chance and go from there.”

The chamber, in a statement, said Mr Turnquest had promised to give the “deferral” call for quarterly VAT filers “serious consideration” but he was unable to make any commitments.

The government, too, will be desperate for every cent of revenue it can get, with the major contributors likely to be food stores, pharmacies, gas stations, communications firms and others exempt from the lockdown.

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ALL SHARE INDEX: CLOSE: 2,147.17 | CHG: -0.05 | %CHG: 0.00 | YTD: -84.43 | YTD%: -3.78 BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 4.45 22.65 7.00 6.70 2.60 2.00 5.47 12.77 6.17 4.50 10.60 3.64 5.10 10.88 8.15 16.99 9.40 4.25 15.21

52WK LOW 3.35 20.91 5.50 5.39 2.09 0.67 2.00 10.21 5.60 3.75 6.01 2.53 1.80 8.00 6.63 13.04 6.98 3.14 13.85

SECURITY AML Foods Limited APD Limited Bahamas Property Fund Bahamas Waste Bank of Bahamas Benchmark Cable Bahamas CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank Colina Holdings Commonwealth Bank Commonwealth Brewery Consolidated Water BDRs Doctor's Hospital Emera Incorporated Famguard Fidelity Bank Finco Focol J. S. Johnson

SYMBOL AML APD BPF BWL BOB BBL CAB CIB CHL CBL CBB CWCB DHS EMAB FAM FBB FIN FCL JSJ

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

Cable Bahamas Series 6 Cable Bahamas Series 8 Cable Bahamas Series 9 Cable Bahamas Series 10 Colina Holdings Class A Fidelity Bank Class A Focol Class B

CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA FBBA FCLB

PREFERENCE SHARES

1.00 10.00 1.00

1.00 10.00 1.00

CORPORATE DEBT - (percentage pricing) 52WK HI 100.00

52WK LOW 100.00

115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

104.79 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

SECURITY Fidelity Bank Note 22 (Series B) +

SYMBOL FBB22

Bahamas Note 6.95 (2029) BGS: 2015-1-3Y BGS: 2014-12-5Y BGS: 2015-1-5Y BGS: 2014-12-7Y BGS: 2015-1-7Y BGS: 2014-12-30Y BGS: 2015-1-30Y BGS: 2015-6-3Y BGS: 2015-6-5Y BGS: 2015-6-7Y BGS: 2015-6-30Y BGS: 2015-10-3Y BGS: 2015-10-5Y BGS: 2015-10-7Y

BAH29 BG0203 BG0105 BG0205 BG0107 BG0207 BG0130 BG0230 BG0303 BG0305 BG0307 BG0330 BG0403 BG0405 BG0407

BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing)

LAST CLOSE 3.55 17.43 6.00 6.68 2.10 1.62 2.99 11.26 6.00 4.07 6.01 2.85 4.90 9.47 8.15 14.00 8.97 4.15 15.20

CLOSE 3.55 17.43 6.00 6.68 2.10 1.62 2.99 11.26 6.00 4.07 6.01 2.77 4.90 9.50 8.15 14.00 8.97 4.15 15.20

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.08 0.00 0.03 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

CLOSE 100.00

CHANGE 0.00

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

LAST SALE 100.00 107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

VOLUME

1,340

VOLUME

EPS$ 0.239 0.932 1.760 0.369 0.070 0.000 -0.438 0.722 0.449 0.184 0.140 0.102 0.467 0.646 0.728 0.816 0.939 0.203 0.631

DIV$ 0.170 1.260 0.000 0.260 0.000 0.020 0.000 0.720 0.220 0.120 0.000 0.434 0.060 0.328 0.240 0.540 0.200 0.120 0.610

P/E 14.9 18.7 N/M 18.1 N/M N/M -6.8 15.6 13.4 22.1 42.9 27.2 10.5 14.7 11.2 17.2 9.6 20.4 24.1

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

YIELD 4.79% 7.23% 0.00% 3.89% 0.00% 1.23% 0.00% 6.39% 3.67% 2.95% 0.00% 15.67% 1.22% 3.45% 2.94% 3.86% 2.23% 2.89% 4.01% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%

INTEREST Prime + 1.75%

MATURITY 19-Oct-2022

6.95% 4.00% 4.25% 4.25% 4.50% 4.50% 6.25% 6.25% 4.00% 4.25% 4.50% 6.25% 3.50% 3.88% 4.25%

20-Nov-2029 30-Jul-2018 16-Dec-2019 30-Jul-2020 15-Dec-2021 30-Jul-2022 15-Dec-2044 30-Jul-2045 26-Jun-2018 26-Jun-2020 26-Jun-2022 26-Jun-2045 15-Oct-2018 15-Oct-2020 15-Oct-2022

YTD% 12 MTH% 0.37% 3.81% 0.24% 4.38% 0.23% 2.75% 5.76% 5.76% 12.81% 12.81% 0.58% 4.04% -1.09% 5.26% 0.22% 4.45% 2.29% 9.61% -0.32% 10.20% -1.58% 15.37% 0.88% 5.22% -4.91% 10.77% 1.89% 6.75% -1.95% 0.38% N/A N/A 10.80% 2.60% 10.40% -4.00%

NAV Date 31-Jan-2020 31-Jan-2020 31-Jan-2020 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2019 31-Jan-2020 31-Jan-2020 31-Jan-2020 31-Jan-2020 29-Feb-2020 29-Feb-2020 29-Feb-2020 29-Feb-2020 29-Feb-2020 29-Feb-2020

MUTUAL FUNDS 52WK HI 2.30 4.38 2.09 195.13 166.73 1.67 1.83 1.76 1.23 8.34 10.26 7.00 12.15 12.58 10.81 10.00 8.98 11.79

52WK LOW 1.67 3.30 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.67 1.83 1.76 1.23 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20

FUND CFAL Bond Fund CFAL Balanced Fund CFAL Money Market Fund CFAL Global Bond Fund CFAL Global Equity Fund Leno Preferred Income Fund Leno Growth Fund Leno Diversified Fund Leno Global USD Bond Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Secured Balanced Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Targeted Equity Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Prime Income Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Equities Sub Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - High Yield Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Alternative Strategies Fund Colonial Bahamas Fund Class D Colonial Bahamas Fund Class E Colonial Bahamas Fund Class F

NAV 2.30 4.38 2.09 195.13 166.73 1.67 1.83 1.76 1.23 8.31 10.07 7.00 11.42 12.58 10.52 N/A 8.98 11.40

MARKET TERMS

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX - 19 Dec 02 = 1,000.00 52wk-Hi - Highest closing price in last 52 weeks 52wk-Low - Lowest closing price in last 52 weeks Previous Close - Previous day's weighted price for daily volume Today's Close - Current day's weighted price for daily volume Change - Change in closing price from day to day Daily Vol. - Number of total shares traded today DIV $ - Dividends per share paid in the last 12 months P/E - Closing price divided by the last 12 month earnings

YIELD - last 12 month dividends divided by closing price Bid $ - Buying price of Colina and Fidelity Ask $ - Selling price of Colina and fidelity Last Price - Last traded over-the-counter price Weekly Vol. - Trading volume of the prior week EPS $ - A company's reported earnings per share for the last 12 mths NAV - Net Asset Value N/M - Not Meaningful

TO TRADE CALL: CFAL 242-502-7010 | ROYALFIDELITY 242-356-7764 | COLONIAL 242-502-7525 | LENO 242-396-3225 | BENCHMARK 242-326-7333

payments for March are due on April 21.

“Although some businesses do not have access to all their latest records at home, due to the COVID19 related closures, they are able to file VAT returns based on an estimate of turnover for the period and submit amendments later,” the Department of Inland Revenue added.

“While there will be no penalty for businesses who submit amendments for filings during the emergency order, the penalties associated with late filings are still in place.” It said it was still continuing to process business licence applications and renewals; real property tax payments; and tax payment plans, as well as stamping documents for VAT and dealing with first-time home buyer exemptions.

Gaynell Rolle, the Department of Inland Revenue’s acting comptroller, suggested many companies would likely qualify for the government’s $60m tax credit/deferral initiative geared towards supporting medium-sized firm payrolls as around 50 percent of firms owe business licence fees.

“We want to assist as many businesses as possible and encourage businesses to apply online,” she said.

“Our records show that almost 50 percent of businesses have outstanding business licences. Not all of these are eligible for the tax credit or deferral.

However, we encourage all businesses to reach out either to establish a payment plan or to apply for the tax relief programme.”

Price regulator in egg shortage fear

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THURSDAY, 16 APRIL 2020

However, many companies are likely to seek a “credit” from the government as their VAT “input” payments will be greater than those on their “outputs” due to their closure and absence of any revenue streams.

“The Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a health and economic crisis of epic proportions,” the chamber said, adding that “businesses are faced with the difficult decision of having to reduce staff and manage operational costs, while the Government of The Bahamas continues to work on keeping its citizens and residents safe in the face of the spread of COVID-19.

“At the time of the initial VAT deferral [in March] no one knew how long businesses would not be allowed to operate. In the interim, businesses have continued to pay employee salaries, company utilities and rent. They also had to pay vendors for goods shipped prior to the shutdown, customs to clear shipments from the docks, additional security services to protect closed premises, along with other expenses.

“Given the fiscal state of many of these MSMEs, it is the chamber’s strong recommendation that the Government of The Bahamas defer the payment of VAT quarterly filings. This will assist the business community with its cash flow during these challenging times and, in some cases, will prevent their permanent closure.”

The chamber’s statement came hours after the Department of Inland Revenue issued its own release reminding the private sector that VAT filings and

30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019

a shortage of eggs, depending on the farmers in Florida.

“According to the news that I watched on the local Floridian station, it may be shortly - within a week maybe - but they were saying that the problem was the hatchlings of the chickens that produce eggs. The farmers were complaining that when the stock they have runs out there will be a shortage.,” he added.

“I advised the government that the best thing do now is to reduce the duty on eggs from 30 percent to ten percent. If they do so they can retain the VAT, which is 12 percent, and the Government will still be getting directly 22 percent on eggs.

“If there is a shortage that means availability is going to be a problem, and once there is an availability problem and there is a demand on the availability, wholesalers in the United States normally go up on their price. That is normal. So by reducing the duty it would offset that.”

Recalling how The Bahamas has lost its ability to produce eggs for itself, Mr Sumner said: “We had Gladstone Farms, Rainbow Poultry and another farm that produced chickens and eggs. So you could have gone into the food store ten years ago, and you could look at three different eggs produced locally in The Bahamas.

“They also had an egg farm in Grand Bahama, and they also had an egg and chicken farm in Abaco. All of those are gone now, so government needs to seriously encourage farming for eggs and, consequently, once you start farming for eggs, chickens would come as well. We are importing too many chickens into this country.”

Mr Sumner then added: “When they land in The Bahamas there is another major problem. A lot of the eggs are damaged in shipping and handling.

That is why you go into the food stores and you would see 20 cartons of eggs. Sometimes you go through the 20 and you find five of those cartons of eggs are cracked up, so that is a loss within itself.

“The retailers have told us in a meeting that they are losing badly on eggs because of the damages as they are processed, and as they are carried to the various establishments. They were asking government for an increase in the mark-up price. The mark-up price for price-controlled items is up to 23 percent, but eggs is the lowest at only ten percent.

So basically the retailers were not making much on eggs as it is, even though the price of eggs is high right now because of the availability of eggs coming out of Florida.”

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, April 17, 2020, PAGE 5

BPL finances ‘more perilous every day’ FROM PAGE ONE this week by agreeing to cut production by a record ten percent in a bid to boost prices. This, together with the Russia-Saudi Arabia truce, means the window of opportunity could rapidly be closing on one of the few opportunities to bring relief to Bahamians when they most need it through lower energy costs.

Dr Donovan Moxey, BPL’s chairman, confirmed earlier this year that the utility was interested in exploiting hedging strategies. This is a financial technique employed worldwide, including by Grand Bahama Power Company, to safeguard an energy supplier against oil price volatility by locking in a specific price for a set time period - as long as five to ten years.

This would provide Bahamian energy consumers with better price certainty, and enable businesses in particular to better predict their costs given that the fuel charge typically accounts for up to 50-60 percent of the total bill.

However, Dr Moxey conceded that BPL was relying on its planned bond refinancing to provide the financial resources and breathing room to turn its hedging dreams into reality.

The COVID-19 pandemic has, for the moment at least, put paid to that and locked BPL into ongoing dire financial straits.

Mr Bannister previously revealed that BPL’s March 2020 revenues had dropped by 32.5 percent year-overyear, dropping from $40m to $27m - a difference of $13m. April’s revenue performance is likely to be even bleaker given that it will feature a full month of COVID-19, with BPL also offering a three-month bill payment deferral to those laid-off, quarantined or made sick by the virus.

“Their finances get more and more perilous every day,” the minister told Tribune Business of BPL. “The longer this goes on, and the longer that money does not come in in the way experienced in the past, it’s a challenge.

“BPL is currently in discussions with the Ministry of Finance. They’re looking at a number of potential avenues to deal with the challenges they face. In due course we’ll be able to come up with something to make a difference for that entity also.

“There are quite a few options, and I anticipate we will be able to work something out. COVID-19 has impacted the world at a time when BPL, particularly, was very vulnerable...

The company is running on limited income and we’re discussing the challenges with the government.”

Mr Bannister declined

to detail the government’s potential options for assisting BPL, saying they were “too numerous for me to go into right now”. However, it appears increasingly likely that the Minnis administration will have to forestall a potential energy crisis by propping up BPL via taxpayer support likely involving more guaranteed debt financing.

The minister added that COVID-19 had effectively blocked any improvement in BPL’s financial health via the planned refinancing, and said: “I don’t think anyone wants to potentially go into the bond markets now if they’re looking for the favourable interest rates we anticipated getting.

“Our consumers have generally been used to coming in and paying in person and, coupled with that, BPL’s online payment system was not the most efficient. When you have a situation like the COVID19 virus, and people are told to stay at home, circumstances arise where you do not get the financing you need to get.”

Mr Bannister argued that the one bright spot for BPL was that it had “acted in swift fashion” to acquire more than 160 megawatts (MW) of new generation capacity, split between the $95m outlay on the Wartsila engines and the $30m spend on the General Electric (GE) unit now operating at its Blue Hills plant.

He voiced optimism that, as a result, BPL will prove it is “a reliable utility” by avoiding the daily load shedding and blackouts that plagued summer 2019. The cooling system for the new 132 MW of new Wartsila generation capacity is set to be completed at Clifton Pier “in a matter of weeks”, enabling all seven engines to be operated at the same time.

“BPL is an essential service to the Bahamian people, and we’re going to continue to provide that service come what may,” Mr Bannister told Tribune Business. “Summer is fast approaching and we need to have the type of resources in hand to ensure we will be able to keep the Bahamian people in a situation where they have power through the summer.

“We need to keep the power on during the summer. BPL needs to show they’re a reliable utility and I believe they’re going to do it. BPL didn’t have the best maintenance plans and procedures in the past, so we’re also dealing with the maintenance issues now. We can never go back to what we had last summer.”

Mr Bannister said the cooling system for the new Wartsila engines at Clifton Pier will be completed “in a matter of weeks” to enable all to run at the same time.

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THE TRIBUNE

S&P: Bahamas to shrink by 16% FROM PAGE ONE

not unexpected to see some commentary from the agencies.

“We anticipate what we do from here will have a significant effect, positive or negative on the outlook going forward. Our focus at this time has to be providing the assistance to the Bahamian people that they need, and that is - and will continue to be - the focus.

“It’s [the S&P downgrade] noted, but it is not something in our control at the moment to correct. The good news is we have a positive track record over the last several years, and have demonstrated to the investing community that we live up to our commitment to transparency and accountability,” he added.

“That won’t change and, following the same commitment, hopefully we will see our rating stabilise once things to return to normal.”

Given that S&P is predicting double the economic contraction projected by the IMF and Moody’s, it is forecasting that Bahamian GDP will shrink by around $2bn or one-sixth in 2020.

The Bahamas, along with Belize, were the only two out of a group of ten tourism-dependent countries in the Caribbean and Latin American region to have their ratings cut by S&P yesterday. The likes of Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Barbados saw a decline only in their outlooks, while Turks & Caicos was unchanged.

“The sudden stop in tourism will cause unprecedented declines in GDP,

fiscal balances and foreign exchange inflows,” S&P added of the region.

“Although there is a high degree of uncertainty about the rate of spread and the peak of the coronavirus outbreak, our base case for tourism in the region in 2020 assumes a year-overyear decline of 60 percent to 70 percent from April to December compared to 2019, with the largest declines occurring in the second and third quarters.”

Turning to The Bahamas, S&P added that COVID-19 had worsened a situation where this nation’s fiscal and economic performance had already been rendered “vulnerable” by Hurricane Dorian. It predicted that while the economy will take one to two years to recover, the impact on The Bahamas’ debt and fiscal deficits will linger for much longer.

“The dramatic decline in tourism will have a major impact on the country’s economy and government finances, which were already vulnerable following Hurricane Dorian in fall 2019,” the rating agency added. “While we expect the effects of the pandemic on the economy and fiscal deficits will be limited to one to two years, the country’s debt burden will take longer to recover.

“While we forecast a rebound in tourism in 2021, in most cases we do not expect a full recovery until 2022-2023 at the earliest.

We believe that the pace of recovery will depend on the timing of the outbreak peak in The Bahamas and key visitors’ countries, the nature and resiliency of the tourism sector and sectors

Friday, April 17, 2020, PAGE 7 that indirectly depend on tourism, and the government’s policy response.”

S&P continued: “Although there is a high degree of uncertainty about the duration of the pandemic and the impact on consumers’ future travel decisions, our base case assumes the effects of COVID-19 will be temporary, and we expect a strong - although not full - economic recovery in The Bahamas in 2021.

“Although we believe it will take several years for nominal GDP to reach prepandemic levels, we expect the country will benefit from its strong marketing presence and easy access for visitors.”

However, noting that the government had already projected a $1.5bn increase in the national debt over the next six years due to Hurricane Dorian’s impact, S&P said the loss of tourismrelated revenues - combined with “elevated spending” - will produce large fiscal deficits over the next two budget years.

“We expect the change in the general government net debt will average 4.2 percent from 2020-2023, while the country’s net debt will rise to almost 68 percent of GDP by the end of 2020,” S&P said.

“We now expect interest payments will remain above 15 percent of government revenues for three or more years. We expect The Bahamas will finance its deficit via a combination of domestic and external borrowing.

“The increase in public sector external borrowing will spur an increase in The Bahamas’ external debt, which we expect to continue to make up about 30 percent of total government debt. We expect the external debt of the public and financial sectors, net of usable reserves and financial sector external assets, will be about 112 percent of

Tourism has ‘no choice’ to devise virus safeguards FROM PAGE ONE Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business that the government needed to work with both the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) and other stakeholders in developing protocols to create the necessary “comfort” once borders re-opened and travel commenced.

Arguing that The Bahamas was “going to have no choice” but to introduce such controls, Mr D’Aguilar said the country needed to begin thinking about this now and learn from the measures other countries are putting in place.

He pointed to the likes of Emirates Airlines, which is screening the temperature of passengers - and conducting 10-minute tests on samples of their blood - to ensure they are COVID-19 free before they are permitted to board a plane. Then there was Singapore, which is hiring a private sector consultant to develop a scheme for testifying - and certifying - that tourism industry staff have a clean bill of health.

Revealing that The Bahamas is already fielding calls from airlines wishing to resume flights to this nation, and inquiring whether there was sufficient hotel rooms to accommodate

their passengers, Mr D’Aguilar suggested that smaller Bahamian resort properties will likely “get back on stream a lot quicker” than mega resorts such as Atlantis and Baha Mar. He added that “firing them up is going to take some time”, and said: “They’ll stage the reopening, do it bit by bit, as opposed to all at once.

They’ll have to be comfortable that there’s scale to warrant opening.”

Looking ahead, the minister told Tribune Business: “The difficult part of this is we have to live with this virus, and everybody in almost every circle is standoffish. I wouldn’t say afraid, but cautious about how to engage a fellow human being.

“The same is true for travel and staying in a hotel.

There’s going to have to be protocols, and we’ve not done this before. We have to make people feel comfortable to travel here, and those that live here comfortable to receive them.

Figuring out what makes everyone comfortable is going to take some time.

We’re going to look at countries taking the lead on this to see how best to roll it out.”

Mr D’Aguilar continued: “It’s a bit more complex, and it is going to take a lot more thought on how we’re going to convince those

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coming here that The Bahamas is safe, and those that live here that those coming are safe.

“Tourism is a contact sport. You offer to carry their luggage, bring them a towel or get their food.

A lot of the experience is interaction between guest and employee. We’re going to have to partner with the BHTA in terms of what are the protocols we’re going to deploy to provide a standard that is satisfactory to everyone.”

current account receipts in 2020,” it added.

“We expect the country’s gross external financing needs will rise to 342 percent of current account receipts and usable reserves in 2020, from about 250 percent in 2019.”

Mr Turnquest, in the government’s official response to S&P, said: “This is an unfortunate position we find ourselves in, but it is similar to virtually every other

country in the world. Our focus is on containing the spread of the virus, mitigating the economic fall-out and planning for a strong recovery.

“There will be difficult decisions to make on the road ahead, and there are many reform efforts that need to be accelerated to ensure we have a realistic and sustainable response, but this administration is prepared to

take those actions.

“We note the significance placed on the strength of our recovery for future assessments, and we feel confident in our track record. We have significantly strengthened our institutions over the past three years; we have demonstrated steady leadership that knows how to support economic growth; and we have proven our ability to stabilise the country’s finances at sustainable levels.”