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‘Deceptive indicators’ hurt Budget estimates

The Chamber of Commerce’s chairman believes the use of “misnomers and deceptive indicators” are causing the Government to consistently miss unrealistic Budget and fiscal targets.

BOB two years from profitability

Prime Minister Perry Christie yesterday revealed it will take a further two years for Bank of the Bahamas to return to profitability, as he confirmed plans to recapitalise the troubled institution.

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Brewery unveils'strong Q1' with44% profits rise

Commonwealth Brewery is today unveiling a "strong first quarter" for 2012 with net income up 44.2 per cent year-over-year, its management team telling Tribune Bus

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‘Wild Wild West’ web shop oversight hits Gaming Board

* AG: ‘Difficulty’ undermines ‘blue ribbon’ status * Gov’t ‘seconding’ anti-money launder specialists * Will ‘address forthwith’ web shop money transfers

THE Gaming Board’s “blue ribbon” reputation has been hurt by taking on regulation of the “Wild Wild West” web shop sector, the Attorney General said yesterday. Carl Bethel QC told Tribune Business that the Government was now seconding more experienced anti-money laundering regulators from other agencies to the Gaming Board in a bid to get to grips with a sector deemed “high risk”.

AML chief: ‘Size of pie yet to be seen’

* Uncertainties over Xmas spending * Hopes December ‘uptick’ will persist  * All retailers see October/November fall-off

BISX-listed AML Foods has warned that “the size of the pie” remains unknown when it comes to Bahamian consumer spending this Christmas. Gavin Watchorn, the group’s president and chief executive, told Tribune Business that while it was “very confident” of gaining its due share, the extent of holiday expenditure was difficult to predict given continued economic uncertainty and fragile confidence.

HOPE 8.7% FISCAL DEFICIT DECLINE A 'SUSTAINABLE TREND'

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor A former finance minister yesterday expressed hope that the 8.7 per cent decline in the fiscal deficit for the 2011-2012 Budget year's first quarter represented the start of a "sustainable trend", even though the

BTC slammed with $1.581m fine over network outage

The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) was last night hit with a $1.581 million fine for last March’s network outage, the sector regulator finding it did not take action to maintain a “functioning” communications system.

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Union chief seeks 100-133% increase in minimum wage

The Trade Union Congress’s (TUC) president yesterday backed a 100-133 per cent increase in the Bahamas’ minimum wage, describing this as “reasonable”.

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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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.

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.

'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

'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

Rival Bahamian bidders in fight for last Gov’t hotel

Rival Bahamian-led bids with strong Andros connections are battling to acquire the last government-owned hotel, Tribune Business can reveal, with at least one proposal focusing on eco-tourism. Prescott Smith, owner of Stafford Creek Lodge, confirmed to Tribune Business that he was heading one group seeking to buy the Fresh Creek-based Lighthouse Club from the Government-owned Hotel Corporation of the Bahamas.

QC: Legalisation of web shops has defied the critics

The web shop industry’s legalisastion has produced the opposite effect to the predictions of many critcs, a well-known QC has argued.