04302019 BUSINESS

business@tribunemedia.net

TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2019

$4.82 Govt focusing on ‘hand ups, no give aways’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE deputy prime minister yesterday defended the government as “very responsive” to the poor’s needs, as it was focused on “providing a hand up” rather than “giving away money”.

KP Turnquest, hitting out at “misleading” opposition claims that it is too obsessed with austerity measures and hitting its fiscal targets at the expense of assisting Bahamians in distress, said social security spending had increased during the 20182019 fiscal year.

“That is very misleading,” he told Tribune Business in response to recent opposition attacks. “If you look at the expenditure, social services expenditure is actually up. There’s no cutting back in that regard.

“Second, the investment in the small business area and general support for SMEs, sports groups and the like; there’s no cutting back. That’s misleading that we’re not responsive to people’s particular needs.

We are very responsive in terms of the assistance we give.

“We’re not the government that gives away money. We provide assistance and a hand up for those in need, and provide a safety net for those that find themselves in a disadvantageous position.”

The government’s ninemonth fiscal “snapshot” and budget report, released yesterday, backed Mr Turnquest’s assertion that social security spending had increased year-over-year for the 2018-2019 fiscal year to end-March. It was shown to have risen by $4.5m from $27.8m to $32.3m, an increase of 16.2 percent.

“Social Assistance Benefits, which could be in cash or in kind (eg medical services) totalled $32.3m, a gain of $4.5m (16.3 percent ) from last year, and approximated 65.3 percent of the budget,” the report said.

“Continuing the observation in the first half, this outcome was primarily attributed to an increase in payments under the National Drug Plan Programme from $6.4m to $12m.

“Transfers to households, earmarked to provide relief from the financial burden of various risks and needs, were $0.9m above last year’s spend at $27.7m.

Approximately $17.4m of

SEE PAGE 5

$4.86

‘We won’t use up $108m headroom’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

T

HE Ministry of Finance’s top official yesterday voiced optimism that the government will not squander the “$108m headroom” created by the fiscal third quarter’s $40m budget surplus.

Marlon Johnson, acting financial secretary, conceded to Tribune Business that “a substantial portion” of the difference between the $129m nine-month fiscal deficit and $237m fullyear target was likely to be used up because the final three months will not be as “buoyant” as the previous quarter.

Speaking as the government unveiled its nine-month fiscal “snapshot” and budgetary report, Mr Johnson and K P Turnquest, deputy prime minister, both expressed confidence that the “revenue rich” January-March period had left it well-placed

• Q3’s $40m surplus boost for deficit • ‘Red ink’ cut to $129m for first 9 months • ‘But ‘major portion’ of fiscal space eaten in Q4

MARLON JOHNSON to achieve a full-year deficit target equivalent to 1.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

In particular, the government achieved budget surpluses - meaning its income, or revenue, exceeded its spending of $19.3m and $40.1m for February and March, respectively. This more than

offset the $19.4m deficit incurred in January, while also helping to cut the $169m worth of “red ink” run up during the first six months of the 2018-2019 fiscal year.

The quarter’s performance thus brought the government’s fiscal position back into line with its targets, after it used up almost three-quarters of the full-year deficit during the first half. Year-over-year, the $129.2m deficit for the first nine months was said to represent a 51 percent reduction on the $261.5m incurred over the same period in 2017-2018.

However, Mr Johnson cautioned that the final three months of the 20182019 fiscal year will prove more challenging than the previous quarter due to an expected ramp-up in capital

SOME $7.8m worth of payment fraud complaints were made in 2018, the Central Bank of The Bahamas has revealed, with debit cards accounting for almost 60 percent of cases.

The bank and trust company regulator’s 2018 annual report, released yesterday, disclosed that many of the debit card-related fraud complaints stemmed from “a major card skimming scheme” that hit one Bahamas-based financial institution last August.

This involves the use of a skimming device to capture all the information stored on the debit card’s magnetic strip. This is then copied on to a blank card’s magnetic strip, enabling thieves to steal a person’s identity and make purchases or

spending and the government’s drive to settle all bills before the June 30 year-end.

“It sets the deficit back, and we’ve got about $108m in headroom as far as the deficit is concerned,” he told Tribune Business of the fiscal third quarter performance. “We’d like to see the fourth quarter be as buoyant, but we’re not projecting that as far as revenue is concerned.

“We’re likely to use up a substantial portion of that headroom, but we don’t expect to come in outside the approved budgetary allocation for the deficit.”

Pointing to potential spending pressures as well, Mr Johnson added: “We’’ll have some substantial expenditure on the capital side as contracts mature and

SEE PAGE 2

Govt ‘feeling pretty good’ with VAT collection at 56%

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE government was yesterday said to be “feeling pretty good” about VAT’s performance despite collecting just 55.6 percent of the 2018-2019 full-year forecast during the first nine months.

KP Turnquest, deputy prime minister, told Tribune Business that its major revenue-raising mechanism had performed “in line with projections” during the second and third quarters despite the government’s data giving every indication that full-year targets will not be met.

But, rejecting arguments that the VAT rate hike to 12 percent will not achieve the government’s objectives, Mr Turnquest said the full impact was delayed rather than missed. Pointing to the transition period granted to the hotel and construction industries, as well as the consumer “adjustment” to the increase, he argued that such a lag was

• Revenues up $100m or 20% • Well short of matching 60% hike • DPM: Lag ‘not unexpected’

• Debit cards account for 60% of 3,500 cases • Card skimming hit Bahamas entity in 2018 • Almost $41m in dormant accounts for govt withdraw cash in the actual account holder’s name.

“The Central Bank began compiling data on the number of fraud cases in 2017, as part of a heightened focus on consumer protection,” its annual report said. “A preliminary analysis of the bank’s 2018 payments survey showed that there were 3,507 reported cases of fraud processed by commercial banks for cheques, debit and credit cards, valued at $7.8m.

“Disaggregated by type, cases involving debit cards accounted for 59.5 percent of the total at 2,086, with an associated value

of $3.2m. This reflects in part exposure to a major ‘card skimming’ scheme that affected one domestic entity in August.

“Cheque fraud represented 14.6 percent of the aggregate number of cases at 514, for a corresponding value of $2.5m (32.5 percent of the total value).

Further, the number of cases involving credit cards stood at 907, which constituted 25.9 percent of the total and an associated value of $2m.”

The Central Bank added that, not surprisingly, more than 75 percent of fraud cases were reported in New Providence as The

“not unexpected”.

The government’s ninemonth fiscal “snapshot” and budgetary performance report, released yesterday, showed that VAT revenues for the period to end-March were up year-over-year by almost $100m - a 20.2 percent increase.

The rise, from $490m to $589m, is well short of matching the 60 percent hike in the VAT rate - something that is likely to be seized upon by the government’s political opponents.

They have consistently argued that the magnitude of the rate increase will not be matched by a corresponding surge in VAT revenues.

While year-to-date VAT revenues are well short of the $1.062bn full-year projection with just three months of the 2018-2019 fiscal period left, the Ministry of Finance’s top official yesterday said the tax’s year-over-year performance was not a true like-for-like comparison.

SEE PAGE 4

KP TURNQUEST

$7.8m caught in payment frauds

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

$4.86

Bahamas’ largest population centre.

Elsewhere, the Central Bank said it had custody of some 41,459 dormant account facilities containing balances worth $108.8m as at year-end 2018. These are accounts where there has been no activity for at least seven years, with Bahamian and US dollars accounting for 89.1 percent of this sum.

Legislative reforms enacted last year, though, now allow the government to take ownership of “specific categories of dormant funds” held by the Central Bank for the purposes of

SEE PAGE 6

$4.86 Govt moves on ‘real risk’ posed

by SOE losses

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE government yesterday revealed plans to introduce legislation that will address “the real risk” loss-making, inefficient state-owned enterprises (SOEs) pose to its financial health.

KP Turnquest, deputy prime minister, told Tribune Business that the State-Owned Enterprises Bill is designed to introduce “the same kind of accountability and discipline” to SOEs that the Minnis administration is currently implementing with central government.

He added that the Bill would impose “proper corporate governance” on these entities, and “strengthen the hands” of their boards to oversee operations to “the kind of standard” expected within their various sectors and industries.

“As we all know, the SOEs represent a real risk in terms of our exposure,” Mr Turnquest told this newspaper. “Unfortunately, several of them are not at a cost recovery level at this point.

“We need to ensure the same kind of discipline and accountability we’re trying to build within the central government system translates down into the operation of these SOEs. The way to do that is ensure they have proper governance, and ensure as much as possible the kind of corporate governance that makes for an efficient utility.

“The new legislation is intended to strengthen the hands of the various boards and agencies to bring them to a standard one would expect for the kind of operation they may be involved with. It’s significant.”

The Bill’s development was revealed yesterday with the release of the government’s ninemonth fiscal “snapshot” and budget report, which said it was part of broader efforts to reform public sector financial management and reduce the burden on taxpayers.

“Work [has] also commenced on the StateOwned Enterprises Bill, which will support an enhanced governance framework for these entities with the objective of securing greater operational efficiency and a reduction in their level of governmental subventions (subsidies),” the report said.

SEE PAGE 3

PAGE 2, Tuesday, April 30, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

BTVI FACILITATES FIRST INTERNATIONAL INTERN THE Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) has just facilitated its first international internship after carpentry student, Odler Pierre, reached out to US-based Storm Team Construction.

Pierre became friends with Storm Team Construction’s chief executive, Chad Simkins, through his work at a local marina. He told him about his internship, and Mr Simkins offered him the opportunity to intern with his company.

“I just want to thank God for giving me this amazing opportunity to be the first student from BTVI that had a chance to intern abroad. Special thanks to

CARPENTRY student, Odler Pierre, was the first student from the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) to intern abroad. He is pictured here with BTVI career services officer, Michael Smith (left).

Photo: BTVI

chief executive of Storm Team Construction, Chad Simkins, who went out of his way, allowing me to intern with his company and making sure all my needs were taken care of,” said Pierre.

Storm Team Construction is a company that specialises in rebuilding and restoration after storms, and has several locations across the US. The company has received several awards, including the Service Excellence Award by the United Association of Storm Restoration Contractors.

Pierre spent five weeks with Storm Team Construction in Jupiter, Florida, and completed the required

160 hours for his internship. He was tasked with constructing formwork for concrete walls, constructing stud walls, installing doors, roofs and windows and other related tasks.

Pierre even completed a short online course on installing window and door systems while he was there. When he was not working, he would go fishing with friends and learned how to clean and maintain a vessel, create boat knots, fishing techniques and how to drive a boat.

BTVI’s career services officer, Michael Smith, said of Pierre: “His performance speaks volumes to the strength of the instruction he received in BTVI’s carpentry programme. He was able to teach Storm Team Construction’s employees techniques and safety practices based on his OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) training at BTVI. “Based on what was

reported by the company, his internship assessment forms show an outstanding performance.”

Pierre says internship is key to making the transition from the classroom to the work environment seamless. “Internship provides real life experience and exposure,” he added. “It teaches you how to communicate with colleagues, enhances the practical skills learned in class, leaderships skills and how to be a team player.

“It can help you acquire more education, and gives you the opportunity to learn more about yourself.

To know yourself is to know your goals and do your best to achieve them. If offered a job right now I would take it! I feel the amount of education I got from BTVI was enough to prepare me for the work field. Right now, my goal is to continue focusing on my education so that I can be a project manager one day.”

‘We won’t use up $108m headroom’ FROM PAGE ONE get into full throttle.

“We also want to make sure that all bills are brought to account, and that we avoid any carry over into the new fiscal year. We have been making a concerted effort. Our budget analysts and the team are staying in close contact with the ministries and agencies so that they follow good accounting practices and no unexpected spending commitments are incurred.

“That will avoid the massive build-up of arrears that would have accumulated in the past.” That build-up was pegged at $360m by the Minnis administration, which it is aiming to pay off over the next three years with the extra revenues generated by the VAT rate increase to 12 percent.

The deficit declines, both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, come after the government announced in the mid-year budget that it was cutting recurrent spending by five percent or $130m against 2018-2019 projections to compensate for a $185m revenue underperformance and stay on its deficit target.

The government has begun to generate budget surpluses during the January-March period more consistently, especially since the introduction of VAT, because it coincides with a winter tourism season that represents the peak activity in the Bahamian

economic cycle.

Business licence fees are due at this time, which also includes commercial vehicle licensing month and the bulk of real property tax payments. They combine with the extra tourism and economic activity to give the Public Treasury its seasonal revenue buoyancy.

However, Mr Turnquest said the $40m surplus achieved during the 20182019 fiscal third quarter represented a reversal of the $7m deficit position incurred the year before. He added: “We successfully reduced the deficit by over $130m in the first nine-months compared to the same fiscal period last year. That’s a 51 percent improvement.”

The deputy prime minsiter told Tribune Business that the results achieved to-date showed the government was “on the right track to get The Bahamas’ fiscal house in order” through its threeyear consolidation plan that is ultimately designed to eliminate the deficit gap.

Matching Mr Johnson’s optimism that the $237m fiscal deficit target will be met or beaten, he told Tribune Business of the year’s final quarter: “This is a risky period, if I may use that word, where we have to make sure we do not make spending commitments not included in the budget and remain true to our fiscal discipline.

“As it stands now, I feel pretty good we will meet our targets, and we are monitoring very carefully our expenditure. I’m going to remain conservative and say we will come in around our target. we beat it, fine, but I want to stay on the side of conservatism rather than be overly optimistic.

“It’s not easy, but I believe we remain on the right track in getting this entire fiscal house on target and are moving in the right direction.”

Mr Turnquest added that the government was “still aiming” to hit its 2019-2020 target of a fiscal deficit equivalent to just one percent of Bahamian

gross domestic product (GDP). This would be equal to about $110m, and the deputy prime minister confirmed it was targeting a small budget surplus - the first in Bahamian history the following fiscal year.

Both goals are enshrined in statute law via the Fiscal Responsibility Act, and Mr Turnquest said revenue-raising measures in the 2019-2020 budget will be focused on compliance and administrative issues as opposed to new or increased taxes.

Having repeatedly ruled out such moves, he told Tribune Business: “We don’t expect any significant revenue changes this year except for a tightening up on various matters where we believe we can drive higher productivity through compliance with existing laws, and monitor expenditure such that we don’t lose the momentum gained this year.

“The numbers are following the positive trend expected, certainly as far as we can see into the future, and that bodes well not only for this year but the remainder of the fiscal consolidation plan we’ve put forward to the Bahamian people.

“It gives us the encouragement to continue on the path we’ve been on in introducing and implementing this fiscal measures, and all the legislation we’ve put in place around it. It gives us the encouragement to carry forward with the remaining legislation and procedures to complement our policy of increasing transparency and accountability controls,” Mr Turnquest continued.

“We’re moving in the right direction. The results show positive trends along these lines, and if we continue to remain faithful to the plan we will end up with the result we anticipate of a surplus in the third year.”

Mr Johnson, echoing the deputy prime minister, added: “I think the Ministry is pleased with the performance, and its ability to manage the revenue and expenditure side to keep on target with the overall deficit projections.

“We feel we’re in a good place. The underpinning of all this will be the continued growth and strengthening of the Bahamian economy and, provided that continues, we feel we have the fiscal headroom to stay on target with the mid-term forecasts.

“We have to keep in mind the need to tighten expenditure controls in line with the government’s policy priorities and minimise unnecessary expenditure.

That remains our challenge even as the situation improves and we see some stabilisation of the fiscal position.”

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, April 30, 2019, PAGE 3

URCA UNVEILS GB TOWN HALL MEETINGS THE Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) is set to hold three meetings on Grand Bahama as part of its ongoing public consultation process.

The regulator, which oversees the electronic communications and energy sectors, will hold Town Hall meetings on May 7 in Eight Mile Rock; on May 8 in Freeport at the Father Pestaina Centre; and on May 9 in East End at the St Nicholas Parish. All three meetings will start at 6pm.

URCA executives, who have already staged similar events in New Providence and Abaco, are expected to detail customer service initiatives; solar engagement and regulations; disaster preparedness efforts and the regulator’s objectives for 2019-2020.

“What we want to hear from you,” Stephen Bereaux, URCA’s chief executive said, “is what you think are the biggest areas of concern, and how we should be exercising our regulatory jurisdiction. Our goal really is to find out what are the priorities you feel we should be working on.”

Alternative energy,

URCA Director of Utilities & Energy, Shevonn Cambridge and Carlton Smith, URCA Director of Electronic Communications answer questions at URCA’s Town Hall Meeting at New Vision Ministries in Marsh Harbour, Abaco on Wednesday April 17, 2019.

Photos: Tim Aylen/Barefoot Marketing

“The Bill will provide for the sustainability and transformation of State-Owned Enterprises into viable, efficient and self-sufficient entities. The Bill will also provide a concise distinction in the classification of a public sector or a private sector-led entity. It will also assist in identification of cost rationalisation and cost recovery options with existing SOEs.” The government’s 20182019 budget listed some $398.294m in subsidies allocated to SOEs and agencies for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, down slightly from the prior year’s $410m. The bulk of this sum, some $216m or more than 50 percent, was due to the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) to cover its operational costs.

The usual loss-making suspects, such as Bahamasair, the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, Nassau Flight Services and the Hotel Corporation were also included among these subsidies, continuing their reliance on Bahamian taxpayers to underwrite their existence.

Besides these SOEs, other perennial loss-makers such as Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) and the Water and Sewerage Corporation also fall into the category of SOEs that fail to recover their costs. Both are selling their services below cost, with the latter having not seen a tariff rise for two decades.

Elsewhere, the government’s budget report revealed that its acquisition of, and investment in, the Grand Lucayan resort has incurred a $47m total cost as at end-March 2019.

“Equity acquisitions continue to reflect the government’s capitalisation of the special purpose vehicle, Lucayan Renewal Holdings, formed to acquire the Our Lucaya properties in Grand Bahama during the first quarter of the fiscal year,” the report said.

“To date, these investments total $47m, comprising the original $32.4m in equity contribution and an additional $14.6m in operational support.”

The budgetary report also disclosed that transfers to non-financial SOEs rose by $29.2m to $75.8m during the first nine months of the 2018-2019 fiscal year. “The key drivers continue to be the first half settlement of nearly $13.7m in contingent liabilities with the Bank of The Bahamas, linked to the non-performance of the guaranteed Hurricane and Student Loan programmes,” it said.

“The government also facilitated the budgeted

consumer protection, service quality and the handling of complaints were among some of the key topics discussed in previous forums. Mr Bereaux, together with URCA’s director of electronic communications, Carlton Smith, and director of

utilities, Shevonn Cambridge, will be on Grand Bahama to answer questions and address customer concerns.

URCA will also host two days of “Pop Up” store fronts at the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce.

This will allow for one-onone meetings on licensing,

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A GUEST asks a question at the Town Hall Meeting in Marsh Harbour, Abaco.

Govt moves on ‘real risk’ posed by SOE losses FROM PAGE ONE

FROM left: Alexis Burrows, corporate and consumer relations officer, URCA; Stephen Bereaux, chief executive, URCA; Daphne DeGregory, Abaco Chamber of Commerce director; and Carlton Smith, director of electronic communications, URCA.

media or internet start-ups, and help address renewable energy questions or concerns. URCA, though, currently has no regulatory jurisdiction over GB Power or communications utilities in Freeport.

“We are looking forward to being in Freeport,” said Mr Smith. “I am excited to be working at home for a few days and to address any concerns Grand Bahamians have about the services we regulate. I encourage everyone to come out and have their input, and tell us what they feel is not working or working well.”

settlement of $7.2m in interest payment on Bahamas Resolve’s $167.7m promissory note to the Bank of The Bahamas. Among the other items, Clico-related transactions received $8.6m.”

The first item means Bahamas Resolve, the special purpose vehicle set up to facilitate Bank of the Bahamas’ 2014 bail-out,

has been unable to sell sufficient distressed properties to make the interest payments due on the bonds held by the BISX-listed bank.

This means, once again, that Bahamian taxpayers are being called upon to finance Bank of The Bahamas’ rescue in addition to the $300m-plus already pumped in.

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PAGE 4, Tuesday, April 30, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

FROM PAGE ONE Marlon Johnson, acting financial secretary, told Tribune Business that VAT was no longer levied on real estate sales as it had been prior to the 2018-2019 budget, when it enjoyed a 7.5 percent/2.5 percent split with stamp tax.

As a result, this year’s VAT collection is up against a tough yearbefore comparison when figures included revenues generated by real estate sales. Mr Johnson said this impact could be gauged by the more than-doubling of stamp tax revenues, which had increased by more than 100 percent year-over-year to $169m, as a result of the government eliminating VAT on real estate sales and reverting to ten percent stamp duty.

“We took real estate off VAT and it was added to stamp tax,” he explained.

“You’ll see a bump up in stamp tax revenues that were otherwise booked as VAT.” Mr Johnson said the concessions granted to the construction and hotel industries, allowing them to levy VAT at the old 7.5 percent rate on pre-booked business, and the fact quarterly filings for the 2018

Govt ‘feeling pretty good’ with VAT collection at 56% second quarter would also have been based on this rate, provided further explanations for VAT’s seeming under-performance.

“Add all that up, and it translates into a pretty good position, especially given the concessions made to the construction and hotel industry which are pretty significant economic drivers,” he added. The government has already projected that total revenues will likely undershoot the full-year target by $185m due in part to the VAT transition.

Still, VAT was shown to be the poorest-performing revenue source when ninemonth collections were measured against full-year targets. Just 55.6 percent of the $1.062bn forecast had been received, whereas the

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likes of real property tax, business licence and trade taxes had already produced 70.9 percent, 81.6 percent and 63 percent of their full-year projections respectively by end-March.

Mr Turnquest, though, voiced optimism that the full impact from the VAT rate hike will be felt in the upcoming 2019-2020 fiscal year now that the transition period afforded to the hotel and construction industry has long ended.

Confirming that this transition had not been factored into the VAT projections, he told Tribune Business: “Hopefully we will see a sustainable level of productivity from the VAT system, and maybe even a gain.

“We’ve consistently said we made some concessions at the beginning of the year that affected the overall budget projections, and there’s a natural tendency for some adjustment as with any new tax that’s introduced, so it’s not unexpected.

“The positives are that we are above where we were

last year,” Mr Turnquest continued, “and the trends for the second and third quarters have been positive and trending in line with our projections. That gives us the confidence that our projections are not inaccurate.

“As with any change there’s always a natural period of adjustment as consumers come to grips with it, but overall we’re feeling pretty good with where VAT is.”

The government’s ninemonth budgetary report, breaking down the revenue performance, said: “Reflecting two quarterly filings at the 12 percent rate, ValueAdded Tax (VAT) receipts posted a gain of $98.9m to $588.9m.

“Collections represented approximately 55.6 percent of the budget, with the initial quarter’s performance moderated by the government’s accommodation to hotels and resorts and development projects to honour business booked/ secured prior to September 30, 2018, at the old rate.”

As for stamp duty, the

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report added: “The buoyancy in stamp taxes on financial and realty transactions was maintained throughout the year-todate performance, with an approximate two-fold hike in the yield to $161.6m from $80.6m a year ago.

“At 112.5 percent of the budget, the outcome was supported by the increase in stamp duties on realty transactions in excess of $100,000 to ten percent, effective July 1, 2018, following the corresponding removal of VAT from all realty deals. Stamp taxes on banking transactions, at $54m, represented a gain of $8.7m in receipts.”

The VAT rate hike and corresponding stamp duty adjustment were the government’s key revenue increase drivers for the yearto-date, with all other major revenue streams largely flat against the prior year.

Mr Turnquest, meanwhile, reiterated his previous calls for the web shops to pay all taxes due and owing under the midFebruary settlement with the government. While 2018-2019’s gaming taxes were only $5.1m below the sum collected for the first nine months of the prior fiscal year, he added that “every dollar matters”.

“We just need to ensure we collect the taxes due to the government,” Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business.

“Nobody wants to pay taxes, but we all have our part to play in the provision of services to the Bahamian people and we have to meet our commitments.”

The government’s report added: “Gaming tax receipts, at $22.5m, were $5.1m below the corresponding period and

exclude the impact of the recent agreement reached with the gaming houses that will recoup a portion of the new fees anticipated in the first half of the year. Consequently, collections to date amounted to only 32.1 percent of the $70m budget target.”

Turning to other revenue sources, it continued: “Revenue collections from licences to conduct special business activity posted a gain of $24.6m (34.9 percent) to $95.1m. While consistent with trend collections, the dominant business licence component contributed a strengthened $32.1m (51.7 percent) more in receipts.”

As for the overall revenue picture after the first nine months, the government’s report said: “Revenue receipts through March... amounted to an estimated $1.689bn, an increase of $218.7m (14.9 percent) over the corresponding period in fiscal year 2017-2018, and represented nearly 64 percent of the fiscal year target.

“Tax receipts improved by $198m to $1.522bn (62.6 percent of the budget), while nontax revenue surpassed the three-quarter budget mark (76.5 percent) with a gain of $20.7m to $167.3m.

“Supported by recent fee increases, revenue from immigration fees were higher by $20.9m (44 percent) and equated to 89.3 percent of the budget target. Fines, penalties and forfeits provided receipts of $3.9m relative to $1.5m last year (mainly emanating from judicial-related activities).”

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, April 30, 2019, PAGE 5

Govt focusing on ‘hand ups, no give aways’ FROM PAGE ONE this amount was allocated for scholarships, an increase of $1.9m from the year earlier period.”

Mr Turnquest, meanwhile, pledged there would be “no deliberate holding back” on priority items amid The Bahamas’ many infrastructure needs despite the reduction in capital expenditure during 2018-2019.

“We do note that there was an underspend in the capital budget this year,” he told Tribune Business.

“That’s as a result of a number of matters, primarily programming and timing issues.

“We are certainly mindful of the infrastructure needs of the country, and we are prioritising what needs to be done within the fiscal parameters we have.

We have every intention that those items identified as priorities are dealt with.

There will be no holding back on priority infrastructure needs for sure.”

Capital spending for the first nine months of

the 2018-2019 fiscal year was down by 31 percent or $56.8m at $126.7m compared to the prior year.

The government’s report attributed this to “the expensing of $70.4m of the government’s $88m yearto-date payment towards settlement of the $100m Bahamas Resolve promissory note to Bank of The Bahamas”. That took place in 2017-2018.

Elsewhere, the government said it had settled some $112.7m, or 65.4 percent, of the $172.3m in unfunded arrears payments targeted for 2018-2019 by end-March. Mr Turnquest said: “In addition to financing the ordinary cost of government, we have budgeted to pay off $172m in old bills in this fiscal year, so we have limited room to manoevere.

“Through the end of March, we’ve settled over $110m in these old bills.

To be able to pay off such a backlog of arrears, while still reducing the deficit, is no easy feat; it depends on us being disciplined.”

Recurrent spending, which goes on the government’s fixed costs, such as salaries and wages, rose year-over-year by $143.3m or 9.3 percent to $1.692bn for the first nine months of 2018-2019. This represented 65.3 percent of the budget target, and was boosted by the arrears payments.

“Compensation of employees stood at $518.9m for the period, falling some $27.6m (five percent) below last year and equivalent to 65.4 percent of the budgeted provision,” the government report said.

“At 88 percent of the total, wages and salaries were lower than the yearearlier spend by $23.8m (five percent) owing to the completion of employment contracts. Allowances were reduced by $3m (7.1 percent) to $38.9m, partly due to a reduction in payments for overtime, responsibility and other allowances.”

Total government spending was up by $86.5m or five percent at $1.818bn for the period, representing 63 percent of the budget target.

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

PAGE 6, Tuesday, April 30, 2019

$7.8m caught in payment frauds FROM PAGE ONE financing its fledgling disaster relief fund.

“Low-value accounts of $500 or less would immediately cede to the government on transfer to the Central Bank,” the latter’s annual report said. “In accordance with the Act, as at end-December 2018 an estimated $40.95m in dormant funds was due to be remitted to the government against the applicable ten-year custodial period expiration.

“In 2019, the Central Bank will introduce additional governance oversight structures for dormant account administration. This will include increased public disclosures regarding assets in custody, and public awareness campaigns around funds recovery and ways to minimise lapses into account inactivity status. The Bank has also committed to developing an automated enquiry tool to help the public to search for suspected dormant assets.”

THE TRIBUNE

Rod Rosenstein submits letter of resignation to Trump WASHINGTON Associated Press DEPUTY Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, pictured, submitted his resignation yesterday after a two-year run defined by his appointment of a special counsel to investigate connections between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia.

His last day will be May 11, ending a tumultuous relationship with Trump and a tenure that involved some of the most consequential, even chaotic, moments of the president’s administration.

When Trump wanted to fire then-FBI Director James Comey, who was overseeing the Russia probe, Rosenstein wrote the memo that the White House used to justify the dismissal. But eight days later, Rosenstein took

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL The Public is hereby advised that I, FELICE YVETTE KEMP of #18 Pleasant Breeze Estate, P.O.Box N-1772, mother of WANISHA FLOYDIA KATHRINA FRANCOIS, intend to change my child’s name to WANISHA FLOYDIA KATHRINA JONES. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Deputy Chief Passport Officer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

a step that Trump feared would end his presidency: appointing Robert Mueller as special counsel. The move made Rosenstein the frequent target of Republican wrath and angry Trump tweets and left him repeatedly appearing on the verge of being fired.

Yet in the end, he was largely in Trump’s corner.

He joined Attorney General William Barr in determining that Trump had not obstructed the Mueller investigation — reaching a conclusion that Mueller himself pointedly did not make.

He defended Barr against criticism that he was spinning Mueller’s findings in the president’s favor and stood silently behind him as Barr praised Trump’s cooperation at a news conference before

a redacted version of the report was released.

In his resignation letter to Trump, Rosenstein paid tribute to the Justice Department’s accomplishments and to Trump himself, even praising the sense of humour of a man who once retweeted an image that showed Rosenstein and other officials jailed for treason.

“I am grateful to you for the opportunity to serve; for the courtesy and humor you often display in our personal conversations; and for the goals you set in your inaugural address: patriotism, unity, safety, education, and prosperity, because ‘a nation exists to serve its citizens,’” Rosenstein wrote to Trump.

Rosenstein’s departure had been expected following the confirmation of William Barr as attorney general.

Barr praised Rosenstein yesterday for having “navigated many challenging situations with strength, grace, and good humor”. The White House nominated a replacement for the number two slot, Deputy Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Rosen, weeks ago.

In his resignation letter, Rosenstein said the median tenure for the position is 16 months; Rosenstein will have served about two years by the time he leaves.

NOTICE

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that ABNER PIERRE of Golden Isles Road off Carmichael Road, New Providence, 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 23rd day of April, 2019 to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that GEORGIA ANN LILY JARMOLKIWICZ of Sandyport, Nassau, 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 23rd day of April, 2019 to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

MARKET REPORT MONDAY, 29 APRIL 2019

t. 242.323.2330 | f. 242.323.2320 | www.bisxbahamas.com

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX: CLOSE 2,146.61 | CHG -8.58 | %CHG -0.40 | YTD 37.16 | YTD% 1.76 BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 4.50 20.91 7.00 5.50 2.45 1.96 3.35 10.60 6.16 4.64 12.50 2.74 1.96 9.02 6.63 15.60 7.25 4.25 14.00

52WK LOW 3.50 19.17 4.90 3.50 1.00 0.19 2.10 8.80 6.11 3.54 10.05 2.30 1.50 7.25 6.10 10.10 6.20 3.01 12.51

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

PREFERENCE SHARES

1.00 103.00 100.00 100.00 105.00 103.00 100.00 10.00 1.01

1.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 10.00 1.00

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 Cable Bahamas Series 6 Cable Bahamas Series 8 Cable Bahamas Series 9 Cable Bahamas Series 10 Colina Holdings Class A Commonwealth Bank Class E Commonwealth Bank Class J Commonwealth Bank Class K Commonwealth Bank Class L Commonwealth Bank Class M Commonwealth Bank Class N Fidelity Bank Class A Focol Class B

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 ##########

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

SYMBOL AML APD BPF BWL BOB BBL CAB CIB CHL CBL CBB CWCB DHS EMAB FAM FBB FIN FCL JSJ CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA CBLE CBLJ CBLK CBLL CBLM CBLN FBBA FCLB

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 4.25 17.43 6.00 5.39 2.40 1.96 2.10 10.50 6.16 4.47 10.64 2.55 1.79 9.35 6.60 15.57 7.25 3.50 14.00

CLOSE 4.25 17.43 6.00 5.39 2.40 1.96 2.10 10.50 6.16 4.47 10.64 2.50 1.79 9.34 6.60 15.57 7.25 3.31 14.00

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.05 0.00 -0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.19 0.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 10.00 1.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 10.00 1.00

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

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 100

20,000,750 4,000

VOLUME

EPS$ 0.167 0.932 -0.306 0.323 0.098 0.000 -0.431 0.708 0.480 0.154 0.627 0.102 0.209 0.000 0.636 0.834 0.950 0.205 0.631

DIV$ 0.130 1.260 0.000 0.240 0.000 0.020 0.000 0.710 0.220 0.120 0.620 0.068 0.060 0.328 0.240 0.500 0.200 0.090 0.600

P/E 25.4 18.7 N/M 16.7 N/M N/M -4.9 14.8 12.8 29.0 17.0 24.5 8.6 N/M 10.4 18.7 7.6 16.1 22.2

YIELD 3.06% 7.23% 0.00% 4.45% 0.00% 1.02% 0.00% 6.76% 3.57% 2.68% 5.83% 2.72% 3.35% 3.51% 3.64% 3.21% 2.76% 2.72% 4.29%

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 0.000 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 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 6.25% 6.25% 6.25% 6.25% 6.25% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%

INTEREST Prime + 1.75% 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%

MATURITY 19-Oct-2022 ############### 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

MUTUAL FUNDS 52WK HI 2.20 4.24 2.04 184.51 158.55 1.61 1.75 1.70 1.14 6.99 8.54 6.15 10.52 11.46 10.46 10.00 8.69 11.79

52WK LOW 1.67 3.04 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.55 1.68 1.64 1.08 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 FG Financial Preferred Income Fund FG Financial Growth Fund FG Financial Diversified Fund FG Financial 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 2.22 4.22 2.04 184.51 147.81 1.61 1.75 1.70 1.14 7.54 8.73 6.65 10.66 11.79 10.48 9.92 8.69 11.79

YTD% 12 MTH% 0.58% 3.94% -0.39% 1.53% 0.43% 2.52% 3.26% 3.26% -3.65% -3.65% 1.15% 4.41% 0.59% 4.31% 0.92% 4.16% 2.79% 4.80% -1.08% 1.77% -5.96% -3.05% 1.90% 4.59% 7.24% 11.96% 2.77% 3.88% 3.94% 4.69% -0.71% 0.16% 3.96% 7.75% 8.34% 14.88

NAV Date 28-Feb-2019 28-Feb-2019 22-Feb-2019 31-Dec-2018 31-Dec-2018 31-Mar-2019 31-Mar-2019 31-Mar-2019 31-Mar-2019 28-Feb-2019 28-Feb-2019 28-Feb-2019 28-Feb-2019 28-Feb-2019 28-Feb-2019 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018

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 | FG CAPITAL MARKETS 242-396-4000 | COLONIAL 242-502-7525 | LENO 242-396-3225

Rosenstein had intended to leave around midMarch but stayed on for the completion of Mueller’s investigation. He was part of a small group of department officials who reviewed the report and helped shape its public release after Mueller submitted the document last month. Integral to the start of the probe, Rosenstein was also present for the very end.

After Mueller didn’t reach a conclusion on whether Trump had obstructed the investigation, Barr and the deputy stepped in and determined the evidence wasn’t enough to support such an allegation.

The deputy attorney general position is a hugely significant job, responsible for overseeing the Justice Department’s daily operations and the work of United States attorneys across the country. But it’s largely an anonymous, behind-thescenes position. Rosenstein even joked about telling one of his daughters when he took the job not to expect to see his picture in the newspapers.

That wasn’t the case, though, for Rosenstein, who was thrust into Justice Department drama even before his arrival on the job because of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ earlier recusal from the Russia probe.

The tumult continued in May 2017 when his memo lambasting Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton

email investigation laid the groundwork for the FBI chief’s firing, though Rosenstein privately made clear that he was unhappy that the White House publicly characterised the termination as his idea instead of Trump’s, according to Mueller’s report. Trump later said he would have fired Comey even without the Justice Department’s recommendation and that he was thinking of “this Russia thing” at the time.

Rosenstein appointed Mueller one week later, supervised his work and routinely defended the investigation against attacks from congressional Republicans and from Trump, who often blasted the probe as a “witch hunt”.

Over the next two years, with Sessions recused from the Russia investigation because of his work on the Trump campaign, Rosenstein set the boundaries of Mueller’s investigation, approved investigative steps and, in place of the rarely seen special counsel, twice announced criminal indictments from the Justice Department podium against Russians accused of election interference.

The investigation overshadowed the rest of Rosenstein’s work even as he talked up the president’s agenda, including announcements on combating violent crime and opioid addiction.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that CHINICA JEAN, of Marsh Harbour Abaco, Bahamas P.O.Box N- 9426 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 30th day of April, 2019 to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that CHINICA JEAN, of Marsh Harbour Abaco, Bahamas P.O.Box N- 9426 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 30th day of April, 2019 to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that ASSEFISE CADET of Kemp Road, New Providence, 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 23rd day of April, 2019 to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that D’SHAWN ANTIONE SANDS of Sunshine Way, Sunshine Park, P.O. Box N-9997, Nassau, 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 23rd day of April, 2019 to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, April 30, 2019, PAGE 7

Marriott to expand further into home-sharing

By DEE-ANN DURBIN Associated Press MARRIOTT is pushing more heavily into homesharing, confident that its combination of luxury properties and loyalty points can lure travelers away from rivals like Airbnb.

The world’s biggest hotel company will start taking reservations this week for 2,000 homes in 100 markets in the US, Europe and Latin America. It plans to expand its Homes and Villas programme to other locations.

For its part, Airbnb is encroaching further into hotels. Yetserday, the San Francisco-based company said it’s working with a New York real estate developer to establish a ten-story hotel with 200 suites in Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan. The suites will only be available through Airbnb’s web site.

Airbnb, which plans to go public but hasn’t made clear when, also acquired Hotel Tonight, a last-minute booking service, in March.

Hospitality is one of several industries that’s seeing traditional players and startups take tentative steps into each other’s turf.

Automakers are exploring ride-hailing. Ride-hailing companies are developing self-driving cars. Amazon is opening physical stores.

Physical stores like Starbucks are experimenting with delivery.

Airbnb and Marriott will always have separate core strengths, but the convergence will continue, predicts Daniel Guttentag, an assistant professor of hospitality management at the College of Charleston School of Business.

“Each of them wants to borrow some of the best elements of the other one’s business,” he said.

Marriott is targeting

A SIGN at a Marriott Hotel in Richmond, Va. Marriott is pushing more heavily into home-sharing, confident that its combination of luxury properties and loyalty points can lure travelers away from rivals like Airbnb.

Photo: Steve Helber/AP families and groups, and the homes skew toward luxury, with prices ranging from $200 per night for a one-bedroom apartment to $10,000 for a full Scottish castle. Nearly 40 of the markets are in places where Marriott doesn’t currently have hotels, like Bar Harbor, Maine and Bordeaux, France.

Marriott is a long way from matching home-sharing behemoths like Airbnb, which boasts six million listings worldwide, or Booking. com, which has listings in 220 countries. The homes in its programme aren’t even exclusive Marriott properties. Marriott is partnering with rental management companies to handle the maintenance and cleaning.

But Marriott believes it has advantages. Unlike its home-sharing rivals, it has a loyalty programme that lets travelers earn and use points on its hotels and homes. Business travelers can accumulate points at Courtyard hotels, for example, and use them for a week at a beach house.

Airbnb is working on a loyalty programme of its own, but the rollout has been delayed.

Marriott says it also guarantees hotel-like standards that are often missing

in home-sharing, such as Wi-Fi, crisp white sheets, bath amenities, baby cribs and smoke alarms. Airbnb has tried to tackle that problem with user reviews and its Plus programme, which highlights rentals that meet higher quality standards. But the sheer volume of properties makes it difficult to police them all.

“One of the challenges you see with home-sharing is there’s too much inventory without quality filters or brand assurances,” says Stephanie Linnartz, Marriott’s global chief commercial officer.

Hotels have struggled to determine the right path into the home-sharing market. Hyatt invested in Oasis, a luxury home-sharing site, in 2017, but said regulatory hurdles hampered Oasis’s growth. The companies parted ways last year.

AccorHotels bought home-sharing site Onefinestay in 2016 but has struggled to make money on it. Choice Hotels, like Marriott, partnered with property management company RedAwning and gets a cut of every property booked.

For now, the homesharing unit won’t be material to Marriott’s

earnings, Linnartz said.

Marriott’s move is an acknowledgment that home-sharing — which has boomed in the last decade since Airbnb’s founding — has fundamentally changed guests’ expectations. People may be satisfied with a traditional hotel for a business trip or a soccer tournament, but sometimes they want something unique and memorable, Linnartz said.

At the same time, Airbnb is moving into hotels because there are customers — particularly business

travellers — it’s having a hard time reaching because of its couch-surfing reputation. But the risk is that it will lose its aura of coolness and authenticity and become just another big company offering hotel rooms, Guttentag said.

Marriott and Airbnb also have a shared vulnerability: They don’t own the properties they’re renting.

That makes it easy to grow or shrink their offerings and insulates them financially. But it gives hosts the option to advertise on more

than one site.

The biggest risk to Marriott, though, it probably its reputation, Guttentag said.

If something bad happens at a rental property, Marriott may not be able to fix it quickly.

“Ultimately, in privately owned short term rentals, undesirable things are going to happen sometimes,” Guttentag said. “They have to resolve to weather that storm.”

Marriott began testing home-sharing with 200 homes in London last year and later expanded it to several other cities in Europe.

The company found that most of its home-sharing guests were leisure travelers and they stayed an average of 5.1 nights, or double the length of a traditional hotel stay.

Marriott’s research also showed that 30% of its customers had stayed in a shared home in the last year.

“When they were doing that, they weren’t staying at an offering from us,” Linnartz said. “This is a gap we want to close.”

PAGE 8, Tuesday, April 30, 2019 MADRID Associated Press SPAIN’S political future is no clearer after its third election in four years, with experts saying yesterday that it won’t be anytime soon before the muddle is resolved.

The incumbent prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, celebrated after his Socialist party won the most votes in Sunday’s ballot. But Spanish politicians were doing the math on how Sánchez might survive the next four years without a parliamentary majority.

Spain’s political right is fractured. The traditional conservative Popular Party suffered a humiliating defeat, while the election marked the rise of the far-right and a high point for an expanding centre-right party.

The results did little to dispel government uncertainty in the eurozone’s number four economy.

It could take weeks or months for Spain’s political future to become clear, said Andrew Dowling, an expert on contemporary Spanish politics at Cardiff University in Wales.

“If the Socialist party wants to stay in power for the next four years, it needs to find mechanisms of accommodation to ensure a degree of stability,” he said.

Sánchez hailed his centerleft party’s victory as an antidote against a reactionary wave of national populism, pledging to help strengthen the European Union.

But the Socialist party won only 29% of the vote, and it still needs to make tough political decisions in order to govern.

With only 123 seats in the 350-seat Congress of Deputies, Spain’s parliament, the Socialists will need to negotiate the support of smaller rival parties to pass legislation.

Even an alliance with the far-left, anti-austerity party United We Can — the most obvious potential partner — wouldn’t give the Socialists

THE TRIBUNE

After inconclusive vote, Spain’s political future still hazy

SPAIN’s Prime Minister and Socialist Party leader Pedro Sanchez gestures to supporters outside the party headquarters following the general election in Madrid on Sunday. A divided Spain voted on Sunday in its third general election in four years, with all eyes on whether a far-right party will enter Parliament for the first time in decades and potentially help unseat the Socialist government.

Photo: Bernat Armangue/AP the 176 seats it needs.

There are other options, however.

Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo said yesterday she believed the election result, which increased the Socialists’ parliamentary seats from 85 to 123, was “more than enough” of a public endorsement to allow the party to rule alone as a minority government.

Spain’s Socialists have also noted the success of the ruling Socialist Party in neighboring Portugal, where the minority government has an understanding with other left-of-center parties which provide support by often voting with it in parliament.

There is a difference, however: In Spain, the Socialist party came to power last June in a minority government

and lasted less than a year after opposition parties, including Catalonia’s separatists, refused to endorse its public-spending plan.

Another possibility is a broad centrist alliance with the centre-right Citizens party, which shot from 32 to 57 parliamentary seats in the election. But Citizens party leader Albert Rivera has in the past ruled out any

arrangement with Sánchez and has in many aspects been hostile to the Socialists’ political agenda.

Yesterday, party spokeswoman Inés Arrimadas again rejected talks to back Sánchez, while presenting Citizens as the leading force in the opposition.

Another unpredictable path that Sánchez could consider is to seek the support of

secessionists in Catalonia.

The unflagging demands of separatists for that wealthy region’s independence led in 2017 to Spain’s worst constitutional crisis in decades, and the price of their support may be too high for Sánchez.

Much of the uncertainty stems from how Spain’s political landscape has fragmented in recent years, after decades in which the Socialist party and the conservative Popular Party took turns in power.

Forging cross-party alliances has proved difficult and has unsettled Spanish governments. In 2015, a splintered parliamentary outcome from a general election led to inconclusive negotiations and a repeat election the following year.

“The country has endured an excessive amount of instability,” La Vanguardia newspaper said in an editorial yesterday. “That is never good. And it’s even worse when the European Union has the same problem, due to Brexit and the rise of populism.”

The Popular Party lost more than half of its parliamentary representation as it fell to 66 seats.

Adding to the parliamentary makeover, the far-right Vox party claimed 10% of the vote and 24 seats. It is the first time since the 1980s that a far-right party will sit in the national parliament, although Vox didn’t win as many votes as some polls had forecast.

In all, five parties got more than 20 seats.

Referring to the antimigrant Vox, Sánchez said the election’s message to Europe was that “you can win against authoritarianism and regression”.

“We will form a proEuropean government to strengthen Europe, not weaken it,” he vowed.

Amid all the political manoeuvring, the new government faces the daunting task of cutting chronic unemployment and keeping the public pension system from collapse.