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THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020
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IDB: 100,000 workers ‘vulnerable’ to job loss By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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ORE than one in every six “formal” jobs in The Bahamas could be lost due to COVID-19, the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) has warned, making 100,000 workers “vulnerable” to the fall-out. An IDB report on the repurposing of more than $19.5m towards the
• Warns one in six ‘formal’ posts may go from COVID • Households under minimum wage ‘doubled’ by April • Predicts $19.5m funding switch to save 6,500 jobs government’s tax credit and deferral initiative, which is designed to give Bahamian firms payroll support and keep workers off the National Insurance Board (NIB) lines, lays out in stark detail the pandemic’s consequences for Bahamian workers, their families
and income levels. Drawing on a paper produced to assess COVID-19’s impact on regional employment, the IDB said the findings estimated that almost 18 percent of jobs in the Bahamian formal economy could be lost due to the contraction and subsequent
restructuring the pandemic will likely cause. Combining this with the impact on the “informal” economy, which some observers believe accounts for between 20-30 percent of Bahamian GDP (gross
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Regulators reject Sebas on gaming ad restriction By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net REGULATORS have rejected arguments by Sebas Bastian’s web shop and media empire that a 5am to 9pm bar on gaming advertising is “discriminatory, arbitrary and capricious”. The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA), in an announcement earlier this week, stick firmly to its original position that no gaming-related advertising be carried by Bahamian radio and TV stations during this so-called “watershed period” in a bid to protect children and
SEBAS BASTIAN
ALFRED SEARS
young adults from harm. The regulator, in affirming the results of the consultation on updating the “code of practice” that governs content provided
by local broadcasters, dismissed arguments by Mr Bastian’s Island Luck web shop chain and its attorney, Alfred Sears QC, that “a sweeping and blanket
Small business: Second funding release for 63% By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE government’s small business assistance initiative stopped taking new applicants from June 15 as it concentrates on distributing the $38.264m in loan and grant funding already approved. Shawn Gomez, a Small Business Development Centre (SBDC) spokesperson, told Tribune Business that 63 percent of approved businesses had already received the second installment of what was designed as a two-part financing scheme. Speaking to the Business Continuity Loan initiative’s progress to-date, she explained: “Funding disbursements were planned in two tranches. Most have received the first in the last fiscal year and the second in this fiscal year (2020-2021). On June 15th we discontinued accepting new clients and have been serving those already approved.” K Peter Turnquest, deputy prime minister, told this newspaper recently that new Business Continuity Loan funding was tied-up with the bridge financing anticipated from multilateral lenders such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). That was anticipated to close by end-last week, with a portion of the monies earmarked to provide $55m in pledged small business support. Ms Gomez said some 541 micro, small and mediumsized firms had been
approved for assistance under the Business Continuity Loan initiative, which had attracted 3,500 applications - some 2,000 of which were properly completed. Around $38.264m in combined loan and grant funding has been approved to-date, of which $4.78m is of the grant variety directed solely at payroll support. The sum approved is more than double the original $18m allocated to the scheme by the government. Ms Gomez added that some $25.909m has been received by approved businesses to-date, with the initiative said to have kept some 4,225 Bahamians employed so far. “The Business Continuity Loan programme has had a major impact on the small business sector,” Ms Gomez said. “Entrepreneurs said that if it wasn’t for this programme their businesses would be closed, or they would have had to tremendously reduce staff. “It’s been described as a saving grace for many small businesses, and we’re grateful that the government quickly moved to aid the small business sector. We also thank the financial institutions who partnered with this initiative to facilitate the assistance which made the process smoother and faster.” The Business Continuity Loan initiative was designed to help micro, small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) cope with the economic fall-out from the COVID-19 pandemic.
watershed period” was an unnecessarily heavy-handed approach by URCA. Mr Sears’ submission on behalf of Playtech Systems, Island Luck’s immediate parent company, argued that his client’s “interests will be disproportionately and adversely affected” by the 16-hour daily block on TV and radio gaming advertisements. He argued that there was no “empirical evidence” to back URCA’s stance, adding that the absence of any gaming operator representatives on the group that devised the “code of
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$4.03 COVID’s open/ close cycle just ‘too taxing’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A MAJOR Bahamian insurer yesterday said its office will function with a “skeleton crew” despite being granted permission to return because the COVID19 opening/closing cycle is simply “too taxing”. Anton Saunders, RoyalStar Assurance’s managing director, told Tribune Business that the property and casualty underwriter will continue to perform the vast majority of its functions remotely since the continued lockdown uncertainty was “not good for us as businessmen”. He added: “We’re happy the competent authority has allowed us to open, but we’re going to work remotely. However, going back and forth and management having to make decisions back and forth, we can’t have this open/ close, open/close, open/close. It’s too taxing on the staff and clients. “We have developed a very good remote working mechanism with our staff and clients. We cannot, unfortunately, continue this open/ close, open/close, open/close is not good for RoyalStar’s staff. We’ll treat it as if we’re still closed and will have a skeleton crew in office. “We’ll deal remotely with the functions we can, and have a skeleton crew in office to deal with the issues we can’t deal with remotely at this time.” Mr Saunders spoke out after the government
$4.00 permitted banks, insurance companies and the latter’s agents and brokers to open from 8am to 5pm as necessary with effect from yesterday to help Bahamians ready for a possible storm. This go-ahead was granted until further notice. Gowon Bowe, Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief executive, told Tribune Business that despite the short notice granted by the government all the BISX-listed institution’s locations were open by 10am yesterday and only closed at 3pm. Bank of The Bahamas, too, was said to have opened yesterday, but all other commercial banks delayed until today. Commonwealth Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) and Scotiabank (Bahamas) all confirmed they will open as of today, with the latter two confirming that this will be effected from reduced locations and, in some cases, reduced hours. “I think what is creating the anxiety and panic is the absence of a long-term plan that says how are we going to deal with things,” Mr Bowe said of the reaction to the prime minister’s nowreversed (for the moment at least) total lockdown of New Providence. “There’s going to be changes in the plan, and metrics, and we will have peaks and troughs. At Fidelity we took the position of coming up with what we thought was reasonable, and then approach the authority to ensure it aligns with them. In the absence of clear guidelines, prudent and effective management will set it out for themselves and ensure customers and staff have a sense of normalcy.”