The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

A financial expert urged residents to take a “pause” and not to go broke this Christmas season while shopping.

Gowon Bowe, Fidelity Bank Bahamas’ CEO, explained that people should manage their money cautiously as, he said, “Christmas doesn't stop the world from turning.”

“Persons must be reminded that after Christmas, there's still going to be utility payments, there's still going to be housing payments, whether that'd be rent or mortgage. There's still going to be the need for school fees and still going to be the need for putting food on the table,” he said when contacted by The Tribune.

“So, if truly the people you celebrate Christmas with do have love for you, then I don't think there will be any lesser view of you. If you take the view that you will only spend within your means. If that means just a card or a smaller trinket in comparison to the larger gifts then ultimately so be it,” Mr Bowe said.

Mr Bowe said that people should take a pause when shopping during the holiday season to consider what is affordable for them rather than putting themselves in a hole of debt.

“I think individuals have to pause and first ask the question: What is affordable to them? And more importantly, who are those persons who they feel that some tangible gift is necessary versus some less tangible effort.

“But certainly, for our Bahamian society, given our enjoyment in terms of the celebration and the actual exchange of tangible gifts means that we need to start thinking about Christmas as soon as one Christmas is over meaning in the January timeframe.”

He added that budgeting ahead of Christmas can aid in saving efforts in the long run as he hoped people would take the necessary steps.

“Like anything else of significance and importance in our lifetime that we need to focus our attention on, what is a reasonable expenditure? And that is a percentage of what our income is, and how early do we need to start saving, whether that be on a weekly or monthly basis to set aside the monies that we would wish to have in the festive season commencing in November leading into December,” Mr Bowe said.

During the interview, Mr Bowe pointed out that the economy still has not recovered from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In June, Prime Minister Phillip Davis said the country’s unemployment rate is now below 20 percent, a major decrease from that of the pandemic, which he estimated at around 45 percent.

However, many Bahamians are still unemployed or have taken on lower income jobs just to make ends meet. In October, Labour Director Robert Farquharson said the Labour on the Blocks 2.0 Job Fair had over 1,500 attendees who were seeking employment.

Mr Bowe stressed that people should not overextend themselves financially this Christmas, as 2023 will be uncertain.

“Let’s make sure that we have a period of buoyancy that is longer than the last 12 months. Let's have a couple of years under our belt. So ideally, they would have had an opportunity to build savings and move away from the need to borrow. But more importantly, they will at least have some stability in their income and not take a real significant risk in putting themselves at no reserves, when 2023 still has a significant uncertainty yet to be determined,” he said.