06302017 business

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business@tribunemedia.net

FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2017

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$42m IMAX developer eyes 800k client base By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE all-Bahamian investor group behind a $42 million, IMAX-centred entertainment destination yesterday said it expects to attract “north of 800,000” persons annually to “a facility the world can admire”. Carlos Foulkes, the Atavus Group’s chief executive, told Tribune Business that the IMAX theatre would serve as “the anchor attraction” for the 100,000 square foot complex currently being built at the junction of Gladstone Road and JFK Drive. Revealing that the family entertainment centre, to be called Fusion Superplex,

WAYNE MUNROE QC

All-Bahamian group builds complex ‘world can admire’

MORTIMER PAID $5M AIRPORT RENT UNDER LAST GOVT

Project to create 125 full-time jobs; 200 on construction ‘Iconic’ experience with Caribbean’s largest screen

Targeted tenant hits back at D’Aguilar

had been in development for some 12 years, Mr Foulkes and his fellow Bahamian investors pledged to create an “iconic” experience that See PG B4

No ‘favourable’ treatment from any Govt $1.2m ‘write-off’ was Cafe Kalik guarantee

IMAX Theater. Photo/TERREL W. CAREY/Tribune Staff

Aviation investors Bahamas requires $160‘stonewalled’ by $180m swing to ‘stabilise’ debt the Christie Govt By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net AMERICAN aviation investors complained that the former Christie administration “stonewalled” their projects due to lobbying by Bahamian rivals, the US government revealed yesterday. The State Department, in its annual ‘investment climate statement’ on the Bahamas, said the need for all foreign direct investment (FDI) projects to obtain government approvals meant they were subject to arbitrary, politically-related influences. “The approval process provides opportunities for Bahamian businesses with competing interests to lobby Cabinet members to delay review or approval of FDI applications,” the report said. “The Embassy [in Nassau] is aware of several cases in which investors who have submitted applications have not received responses, or

US Govt hits at Bahamian rivals’ lobbying Urges Bahamas electricity price increase Reiterates concerns on Govt tendering have experienced significant delays in the approvals process. “For example, the Embassy has been contacted by American companies seeking to do business in the aviation sector whose applications have been stonewalled due to the impact of lobbying efforts on Cabinet members in the decisionmaking process.” Neither the US companies nor the projects in question are identified in the US report. However, it See PG B7

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas needs a $160-$180 million ‘positive swing’ on its primary Budget balance to “stabilise” the debt-to-GDP ratio, with an even “stronger adjustment” needed to slash the $7 billion-plus national debt. The Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) latest Caribbean Quarterly Bulletin lays out the scale of the task facing the Government, and wider Bahamas, in trying to arrest this country’s fiscal crisis. While modelling suggests

‘Stronger change’ needed to cut $7bn

IDB sees 85% debtto-GDP peak And warns of ‘tepid’ GDP growth that the Bahamas’ debt growth rate will ease “over time”, even if the economy is hit by adverse shocks, the IDB paper warned that the total debt-to-GDP ratio could peak at 85 per cent in the medium to long-term.

“The Bahamas’ debt-toGDP ratio (including publicly guaranteed debt) is expected to range between 70 and 85 per cent of GDP over the medium to longterm,” it said. “The probability that the debt trajectory rises above 75 per cent by end of 2017 is 95 per cent, highlighting the need to continue fiscal consolidation efforts to reverse the increasing trend.” The Minnis administration’s own Budget projections show that the Government’s direct debt, as a percentage of GDP (Bahamian economic output), will See PG B5

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net ATTORNEYS for the airport tenant targeted by the Minister of Tourism yesterday said she had paid $5 million in rent over the past five years, and never received “favourable consideration” from any government. Wayne Munroe QC told Tribune Business it was “erroneous” for Dionisio D’Aguilar to claim that Patricia Mortimer’s rental settlement with the Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) had been influenced by political favouritism. Responding to Tribune Business on behalf of Mr Mortimer and her PatMor Group of Companies, Mr Munroe described his client as “very put out” by See PG B6

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‘SENSE OF URGENCY’ DEMANDED OVER HIGH ENERGY COSTS By NATARIO McKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net THE Chamber of Commerce’s chairman has questioned “the sense of urgency” over addressing the Bahamas’ high energy costs, arguing that this would be a “game changer” for the economy. Mike Maura, while speaking at a Utilities Regulation & Competition Authority (URCA) oral hearing on Wednesday night, said: “While I know everybody is working hard, where is the sense of urgency? I say that from the standpoint that there was a National Energy Plan, and the fact is that we pay a higher cost of energy than we need to. Where is the sense of urgency?” Mr Maura said cleaner and less expensive fuel, along with more a modern and efficient energy infrastructure, would help reduce the cost of energy in this nation. “If our energy infrastruc-

Chamber chief: Would lower Govt borrowing

Covering The Bahamas for 40 years. NEW PROVIDENCE MIKE MAURA ture was modern and efficient, utilising LNG, our government may be seeking a loan for less than $720 million right now,” he said, referring to the Government’s borrowing authority for the 2017-2018 fiscal year. Mr Maura said the world See PG B2

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