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Development Bank fund ‘sinking’: Covers 1/3 of $46m bonds

* Just 28.4% of loans ‘performing’ * Accumulated losses over $60m * Solvency deficiency at $31.31m

THE Bahamas Development Bank’s (BDB) ‘sinking fund’ covered just one-third of its $46 million outstanding bond debt at year-end 2016, with only 28.4 per cent of its loans ‘performing’. The BDB’s 2016 financial statements, tabled in the House of Assembly in Wednesday by the Prime Minister, reveal the parlous state of another state-owned enterprise (SOE) that has racked up more than $60 million in losses for the Bahamian taxpayer during its 43-year existence.

Police probe like 'sword of Damocles'

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor A Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) investigation is "hanging over our heads like the sword of Damocles", developers of a $40 million Exuma-based real estate project have told Tribune Business, arguing that severa

Police probe like 'sword of Damocles'

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor A Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) investigation is "hanging over our heads like the sword of Damocles", developers of a $40 million Exuma-based real estate project have told Tribune Business, arguing that severa

Police probe like 'sword of Damocles'

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor A Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) investigation is "hanging over our heads like the sword of Damocles", developers of a $40 million Exuma-based real estate project have told Tribune Business, arguing that severa

IDB: Baha Mar to up jobless rate 2%

The Bahamas’ unemployment rate will jump by as much as two percentage points due to the 2,000 Baha Mar lay-offs, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is predicting, virtually eliminating the May 2015 decrease.

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Gov’t braces for tax breaks legal battle

The Government was last night bracing for an outspoken QC’s latest Judicial Review salvo, after it missed his deadline to provide “an undertaking” that no decisions will be taken on Freeport’s tax and economic regime.

Governor: ‘Credible’ growth plan key to satisfying Moody’s

The Central Bank’s governor yesterday said it was “within the Government’s reach” to lay out an economic growth strategy that convinces Moody’s not to further slash the Bahamas’ credit rating.

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Bran: 'Very dodgy' to interfere with business pricing

The Government will be "in very dodgy territory" should it seek to interfere with how Bahamian businesses price their goods and services, the DNA leader has warned.

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Provider: We can support asset ‘doubling’ to $900m

A Bahamian financial services provider yesterday said it has the infrastructure to support a “doubling” in size to over $900 million in assets under administration, as it seeks to avoid being “pigeon-holed” in the corporate market.

IDB brands price controls ‘poorly targeted subsidy’

The Government’s price controls are a poorly-targeted mechanism to counter soaring 16 percent food inflation as they benefit the rich as much as low income and vulnerable families, a multilateral lender is arguing.

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Baha Mar 'close' to $150m spend on Bahamians

BAHA Mar is "close" to investing $150 million with Bahamian contractors for its Cable Beach redevelopment, as it prepares to today launch the $2.6 billion project's 300 luxury Residences to high net-worth buyers from across the world in London.

'SERIOUS' CUSTOMS WOES UNDERMINING FDI, TRADE

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor The Customs Department's "serious institutional and operational limitations", particularly an information management system more than 20 years-old, are undermining the Bahamas' trade competitiveness and ability "t

'SERIOUS' CUSTOMS WOES UNDERMINING FDI, TRADE

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor The Customs Department's "serious institutional and operational limitations", particularly an information management system more than 20 years-old, are undermining the Bahamas' trade competitiveness and ability "t

Gov’t narrows inner city taxation breaks

The Government yesterday appeared to narrow its planned VAT and inner-city ‘tax breaks’, while seeking to deliver on campaign promises of accountability, transparency and good governance.

QC slams ‘free lunch’ for Port and Hutchison

A well-known QC has slammed the Government’s Freeport incentive legislation for “giving a free lunch” to those who can most afford it - Hutchison Whampoa and the Grand Bahama Port Authority’s (GBPA) two family shareholders.

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BIFF ‘taken for ride’ over Dingman deal

The Bahamas International Film Festival’s (BIFF) founder yesterday said she was left “embarrassed”, and felt “taken for a ride”, after Jamie Dingman failed to deliver on his promised acquisition of the organisation.

CHAMBER CHIEF TO TACKLE FREEPORT'S BOND 'HEAD ON'

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor The Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce's newly-elected president yesterday called for the ongoing controversy surrounding Freeport's 'bonded goods' regime to be "resolved once and for all", as licensee complaints ov

'NAIL IN COFFIN' OF FREEPORT'S $70-$120M BOND ECONOMY

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor Bahamas Customs was yesterday accused of "putting another nail in the coffin of Freeport's" $70-$120 million bonded goods economy, a leading attorney describing the terms it was setting as a "bureaucratic perversi

'NAIL IN COFFIN' OF FREEPORT'S $70-$120M BOND ECONOMY

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor Bahamas Customs was yesterday accused of "putting another nail in the coffin of Freeport's" $70-$120 million bonded goods economy, a leading attorney describing the terms it was setting as a "bureaucratic perversi

'NAIL IN COFFIN' OF FREEPORT'S $70-$120M BOND ECONOMY

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor Bahamas Customs was yesterday accused of "putting another nail in the coffin of Freeport's" $70-$120 million bonded goods economy, a leading attorney describing the terms it was setting as a "bureaucratic perversi