All results / Stories

Tease photo

‘Wary’ over deficit rise, $76m spend increase

Bahamians should be “wary” but not alarmed after the Government yesterday revealed a modest $11.4m increase to its forecast 2022-2023 fiscal deficit along with a similar-sized capital spending cut-back.

Tease photo

PM's mid-year budget communication: Revenue is up

PRIME Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis said for the first six months of the year, revenue collections are estimated at $1.2bn, which represents a $111.5m increase over the same period in the previous fiscal year.

Tease photo

PM meet’s ‘way to defuse’ VAT health claims dispute

The Prime Minister’s Business Round Table with senior corporate executives may have created a pathway for “defusing” the row over the VAT treatment of health insurance claims, one attendee said last night.

Tease photo

Rumour has it

ActivTrades

The ups and downs in the international markets continued last week. Robust economic data fuelled concerns about interest rates but, at the same time, consumer activity remained strong. This created a dilemma for many investors.

Tease photo

DIANE PHILLIPS: When hallmark holidays exact a toll on our soul, just bring on the super sports

SUPER Bowl Sunday was enough excitement for the week so when Valentine’s Day rolled around 48 hours later, some of us just weren’t quite ready for another celebratory occasion, though there’s little doubt that restaurants were full, jewellery was flying off the shelf and you couldn’t find a red rose in town unless you spray painted it.

Tease photo

Fidelity targets $25m annual profits despite 2022’s miss

Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) is targeting $25m in net profits for 2023 despite failing to achieve the same goal last year, its top executive revealed yesterday.

Tease photo

Cable’s $10.69m profits swing amid refinancing drive on Aliv

Cable Bahamas yesterday unveiled a positive $10.69m bottom line turnaround for the first half of its 2023 financial year despite encountering frustration over the pace of Aliv’s debt refinancing.

VAT health claims change may drain foreign reserves

THE changed VAT treatment on health insurance claims payouts could further drain The Bahamas’ foreign reserves by driving patients to seek care outside the country, a senior executive warned yesterday.

Tease photo

STATESIDE: Republican competition for presidential nominee warming up

WHAT state seems to be the centre of the American political universe these days? Some feel that it’s Florida, home now to both former president Donald Trump and his most talked-about potential heir, governor Ron DeSantis. The governor, aided by the Republican-controlled legislature, is plowing headlong into one culture war after another, from packing with conservatives the board of trustees at quirky, progressive New College in Sarasota to casting doubt about school curricula that teach youngsters about the history of African-Americans.

BOB eliminates ‘external influences’ of past rescue

Bank of The Bahamas has “eliminated a lot of the external influences” that helped produce two taxpayer-funded rescues, its top executive has revealed, with the institution “on track” to hit this year’s $8m-$9m profits target.

Debt jumps $256m on IMF rights borrowings

Much of the $256.2m increase in the national debt during the six months to end-December was driven by the Government’s “use” of $232.3m in IMF special drawing rights (SDRs), it has been revealed.

Tease photo

FTX’s Bahamas cash shrank 76% in month before collapse

Cash assets held by FTX’s Bahamian subsidiary were “materially depleted” to the extent they shrank by 76 percent - or more than three-quarters - in the five weeks immediately prior to the crypto exchange’s implosion.

Avoid ‘jack up numbers’ on Business Licence renewal

Companies are only suffering delayed Business Licence renewals if they have “jack up numbers” and are unable to provide proof of income, a small business consultant and activist argued yesterday.

Tease photo

Rejected web shop loses licence appeal

The Gaming Board’s decision to reject a web shop’s licence bid during the industry’s legalisation was fully vindicated yesterday by the Supreme Court.

Tease photo

'Full-throated' effort urged on regulatory compliance

The Bahamas must display a "full-throated commitment" fighting all forms of financial crime, the attorney general reiterated yesterday, while pointing to the imminent challenge posed by global corporate tax reforms.

$250m resort developer: We want to be with ‘best of best’

The developer behind Grand Bahama’s $250m Six Senses project yesterday said he wants it to be viewed “at the top level of resort development in the world” with a construction start targeted for early 2024.

Tease photo

Stop ‘squeezing blood from stone’ on taxation

The Bahamas must reform a tax system that “squeezes blood from a stone”, a well-known banker argued yesterday, renewing his plea for greater “equity” via income-based taxation.

Tease photo

Financial Stability Council to develop ‘crisis playbook’

The Central Bank’s governor yesterday said the creation of a Bahamian Financial Stability Council will help “develop a playbook” for how regulators and the Government manage an industry “crisis”.

Tease photo

Governor eyes IMF-beating 4-6% GDP growth for 2023

The Central Bank’s governor yesterday forecast that The Bahamas could beat International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections by growing its economy “anywhere in the 4-6 percent range” for 2023.

AID 'most concerned' over BPL rate hikes

A major Bahamian retailer yesterday voiced optimism that 2023 will be "marginally better" than last year while revealing it is "most concerned" about Bahamas Power & Light's (BPL) rate hikes depressing consumer spending.