The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said his administration does not intend to cancel any of its commitments despite the country’s current financial situation.

Last week, Mr Davis indicated that the state of the Bahamas’ finances was dismal. When asked if this fact could cause the government to put off any of their commitments, he stated: “We have not arrived at that decision yet. I don’t intend to put off any of my commitments, I intend to see how we can work with what we have to get our commitments fulfilled.”

He spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a National Honours ceremony at the Hilton.

Yesterday, Mr Davis said his administration has yet to determine what some of the first bills it will bring to Parliament will be but said an amendment to the value added tax legislation will be a priority.

“We have not decided as a Cabinet as yet,” he stated. “So, we know that we have to meet certain commitments (but) it may not necessarily require legislative intervention. For example, the VAT reduction requires that, so that will be one of the first items we put on the agenda.”

He also said his administration is also looking at “recasting” the current budget to get it in line with the country’s true state of affairs.

“We are now looking at recasting the budget because what we are finding is that the budget was not truly a reflection of what the state of affairs were, but rather just a wish list to get over an election. So we hope to revisit the budget and perhaps that might be the second most important thing we do is to recast the budget for the next nine months to enable us to carry out our functions.”