The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Prime Minister blamed the COVID-19 pandemic's "fluid nature" for the Government's failure to meet yesterday's deadline for tabling the annual Fiscal Strategy Report in Parliament.

The report, which sets out the Government's medium-term fiscal projections, and the rationale for its revenue and spending plans, is normally tabled on the third Wednesday in November but Dr Hubert Minnis said this has now been pushed back into next month.

"Given the fluid nature of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact, my Cabinet and I have agreed that the prudent thing to do is to defer final deliberations and release of the Fiscal Strategy Report to December," Dr Minnis said.

Arguing that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and others have confirmed the difficulties associated with providing accurate economic forecasts amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Minnis said the resulting emergency had "exerted significant pressure on the country’s fiscal position".

"While we expect the re-opening of tourism on November 1 to have a growing positive impact on near-term macroeconomic conditions, the Government is seeking to make use of the most current information to the extent possible to inform critical policy deliberations," the Prime Minister added.

"Let me reiterate that the Government of The Bahamas is committed to the highest standards of fiscal transparency and accountability, and is taking extra diligence in crafting our strategies for revenue and expenditure. Even amid these unusually volatile times, we will seek to ensure that our forecasts are aligned as closely as possible to our overarching fiscal sustainability goals."

K Peter Turnquest, deputy prime minister and minister of finance, had revealed earlier this week that the Fiscal Strategy Report's tabling would be delayed due to himself being out of the country and the need to "wrap up" consultations on various parts of the document.

He added that the Report would seek to fill what some observers perceive as a gap in The Bahamas' post-COVID-19 economic and fiscal turnaround strategy by addressing the short to immediate term, and the options for tackling a weaker-than-expected tourism recovery.

Dr Minnis said the Government had never missed a fiscal reporting cycle before yesterday, and had always complied with the obligations set out in the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

"The Fiscal Strategy Report provides the medium-term macro-fiscal framework that underpins and informs the preparation of the Government’s annual budgets. It sets out the Government’s strategic priorities with respect to revenue collection, spending and financing over the medium-term horizon," he added.