• Bowe notes upticks in tourism infrastructure and job numbers.
• Warns against misinterpreting debt reduction amid economic improvements.
By YOURI KEMP
Tribune Business Reporter
ykemp@tribunemedia.net
A top financial expert said while the economic rebound was significant, there is still a lot of work left to do to get the country back on a pre-pandemic growth path.
Gowon Bowe, Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief executive, told Tribune Business there are a number of positive things that point to growth in the economy, such as new hotel rooms and the increase in employment across the board - although the number of persons employed has “decreased” since 2019.
“Whilst we had a tremendous amount of ailments and deaths, we certainly didn’t have that, to that extent, to lead and contribute to the contraction in the size of the workforce, and the number of working persons. So from that perspective, I think that we need to continue to preach prudence that persons should not take the exuberance of the growth as meaning that they do not need to conserve, they do not need to save, they do not need to invest, and put aside for what could be a rainy day,” he said.
The country has withstood major hurricanes and a global pandemic along with other social shocks, but it should not take this resilience to mean we are immune from anything.
Mr Bowe said: “We should take the good, meaning the increase in tourist numbers, and exploit it to where we get stopover because we don’t want large cruise ship tourists who have been reported as spending less - even though the cruise port will ideally start to get more spend out of them. We want to take those numbers and them into greater revenue, we want to take the buoyancy in the economy and turn that into savings, investment and independence financially as opposed to just sovereign independence.”
While the debt to GDP improving is a “significant number”, overall GDP improvement is the more important statistic to watch for. “Why it’s sobering is if we have a contraction in GDP, that number can worsen and let us not mischaracterise the actual improvement as being an improved state of our debt. We are still incurring new debt, even though we’re on a trajectory, hopefully, to reduce it and that should be encouraged. But let us be mindful that the the headroom that has been created is the result of higher GDP.” Mr Bowe said.
He further cautioned: “We know we reside on a hurricane belt. We know that there are things that can interrupt economic progress. So from that perspective that is all within our power to reduce actual debt. So that if there is periodic blips in GDP that doesn’t disrupt our credit worthiness, we cannot rely solely on future economic output we need to start paying the piper and reduce some of historical data accumulation.”
Comments
killemwitdakno 11 months ago
3 Things:
The spending should not be three times the new earnings.
The roads shouldn't be just 15 yr roads. Better options should have been examined.
ThisIsOurs 11 months ago
"increase in employment across the board - although the number of persons employed has “decreased” since 2019."
I wish they would not use all these euphemisms. "increase in employment", but according to this article, employment actually decreased from a "normal" economy. We're back to near0, yes thats much better than negative 99, but its still "near0" and forecasted not to move from that anytime soon.. without innovation
ExposedU2C 10 months, 4 weeks ago
This guy Bowe was quoted by The Tribune as having said about business license audit requirements:
This sounds like code for PM Davis and his two numbskull toolies, namely Michael Halkitis and Simon Wilson, deserving to all get their just deserts from the political fallout associated with a declining domestic economy and rising unemployment caused by failing local businesses. The more appropriate euphemism here for many struggling businesses is "the straw that broke the camel's back."
And to think these goons, Davis, Halkitis and Wilson, just can't wait until they become weaponized with a regressive income tax system that will leave all Bahamians begging for low paying jobs from the greedy foreign investors who are benefitting from the sale of our counry by the Davis led PLP government.
ThisIsOurs 10 months, 4 weeks ago
It is very odd, but these guys in particular do seem to relish using the whip.
sheeprunner12 10 months, 3 weeks ago
How is the national revenue going to grow at a higher rate, when 80% of the tourists who come here on cruise ships and bring little or no real financial increase to the average Bahamian entrepreneur???
Maybe this esteemed financial guru can explain that.
BONEFISH 10 months, 3 weeks ago
The two main pillars of this economy have a high level of foreign ownership and control. So a lot of the profits earned here are remitted to the home country of the owners. Also the main segment of tourism, cruise ,there is a low amount of expenditure by visitors in this country. Cruise visitors only spend around $ 84.00 compared to $2,700 for stop-over visitors. Most bahamians do not understand what that disparity means.
There is no high level of local inputs in the tourism industry compared to other caribbean countries. The level of linkages to the rest of the economy to the tourism economy is low. Some one told me on a visit to Barbados,all of the furniture in the hotel room they stayed in was made by a local factory in Barbados.
There is no real attempt to export Bahamian made products to the Bahamian diaspora outside the Bahamas. Compare this to Jamaica. I have seen quite a bit of Jamaican made products in south Florida. Busta sodas, Red Stripe Beer,and HTB Bakery products.
The Bahamas is a hard country to live and work in for some people.High levels of corruption,nepotism, victimization and crime is a turn off for some Bahamians. The utilities and infrastructure here is horrible. A lot of talented Bahamians have left this country and taken their skills and energy elsewhere A relative of mine told me what her son said to her. He told her he saw no economic future in this country for him
The Bahamas has the same problem like so many countries. Based on how the economy is structured, it benefits certain groupings. There is growing, widespread social and economic inequalities in this country. That is being increased by poor government policies and poor choices by individual Bahamians.
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