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Gas station warning of New Year lay-offs
A gas station operator yesterday warned the 24 percent minimum wage increase will “almost certainly” force the sector to cut staffing levels unless the Government grants a long-awaited margin increase.
‘Breath of fresh air’: 150k cruise arrivals over Xmas
The Downtown Nassau Partnership’s (DNP) co-chair yesterday hailed the increase in cruise ship traffic as a “breath of fresh air” for business with close to 150,000 passenger arrivals forecast for Christmas week.
‘I want Schooner Bay progress’, says ex-PM
An ex-prime minister yesterday asserted he wants to see “progress and development” at an Abaco community once held up as sustainable development model following its baffling break with a former management partner.
CCA: We’ll ‘be laughed at by world’ if Baha Mar not open
Top executives at Baha Mar’s main contractor voiced fears they would “be laughed at by the world” if the mega resort’s target 2015 opening was missed while admitting to multiple “shortcomings and deficiencies” in its construction.
‘Unenviable balancing act’ confronting The Bahamas
The Bahamas “faces an unenviable balancing act between food security and fiscal discipline”, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) warned yesterday, with global financial developments proving “particularly concerning”.
‘Lots of muscle’ required for $142m toxic BOB pile
The Bank of The Bahamas bail-out vehicle must now employ “lots of muscle” to recover its remaining “toxic” loan collateral valued at $142m, its chairman revealed yesterday.
Skills transfer woe still a ‘sad reality’
The Bahamas must change “the sad reality” that key skills and knowledge are not being passed on to local workers by expatriate work permit holders, a prominent contractor argued yesterday.
CCA: WE SHOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF BAHAMAS – Contractor reached out for help to son of top govt advisor
Baha Mar's main contractor asked the son of Perry Christie's top policy adviser to intervene when his father proposed changing The Pointe's Heads of Agreement over how many Bahamian construction workers would be employed.
Bank payment charges need ‘legitimate redress’
THE Central Bank yesterday appeared to concede that fees for payment services were too high and “require legitimate redress”, a view shared by 78 per cent of Bahamians.
Pensioners left with 30% in City Markets HQ sale
* Claim trustees ‘not acting in our best interest’ * Trustees retain 27% of $3m sale to AML Foods * And lawyer paid almost one-third of proceeds
City Markets pensioners have been “kept in the dark” over the $3 million sale of the plan’s main asset, with just 30 per cent of the proceeds seemingly left for their benefit.
Title questions raised over $3m AML deal
CITY Markets pension fund trustees have no legal standing to sell the defunct supermarket chain’s former head office to AML Foods for $3 million, it was alleged yesterday.
Insurers ‘not oblivious’ to Bahamas sanctions threat
THE insurance industry “is not oblivious” to the need for the Bahamas to comply with global anti-financial crime standards and avoid sanctions, its chairman said yesterday.
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.
DPM: Bahamas must ‘prove’ itself to S&P
* ‘Not at all’ upset nation still ‘junk’ * Blames former Govt’s failure to deliver * Nation has 12-24 months to execute
The Government must “prove” it can deliver on its fiscal and economic turnaround strategy, the Deputy Prime Minister admitted yesterday, after Standard & Poor’s (S&P) kept the Bahamas at ‘junk’ status. K P Turnquest told Tribune Business he was “not at all” disappointed at the outcome of S&P’s annual review of the Bahamas’ sovereign creditworthiness, despite having previously expressed optimism that the Government could make the case to be upgraded to ‘investment grade’ status.
‘No cause for celebration’ over S&P breathing room
* Bahamas ‘still has to climb out of hole’ * But Chamber chief ‘fully expects’ 2018 upgrade * Many Bahamians don’t realise reform ‘gravity’
PRIVATE sector executives yesterday said the Bahamas has “no cause for celebration yet” after Standard & Poor’s (S&P) elected not to further downgrade its sovereign creditworthiness.
S&P: Gov’ts fiscal, economic reforms ‘will take time’ to work
* 1.5% average growth forecast lower than IMF’s * Grand Lucayan closure takes out 7% of rooms * Debt to rise through 2020 to 52% of GDP
THE Government’s fiscal and economic reforms will take time to “pay dividends”, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) warned yesterday, as it took a more ‘bearish’ view of the Bahamas’ growth prospects. The rating agency, in its latest Bahamas country assessment, expressed confidence that the Minnis administration’s fiscal reforms will “arrest the deterioration” in the Government’s deficit and the national debt.
Bahamas ‘must reengineer economy faster than ever’
* QC: 2018 will ‘set economy for 20 years’ * Warns reform pace may be bewildering * Warns of tax, exchange control ‘recalibrating’
THE Bahamas faces having to “substantially reengineer its economy at a much faster pace than ever before” to escape global ‘blacklists’, a prominent QC warned yesterday. Brian Moree QC, senior partner at McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes, told Tribune Business that this nation’s response to the European Union/OECD initiatives in 2018 “will determine the future of the economy” for possibly the next 20 years.
Bahamas faces major tax, exchange control shake-up
The Bahamas may have to completely overhaul its corporate and taxation structure to escape European Union/OECD ‘blacklisting’ threats, the Attorney General revealed yesterday.
Opposition leader in ‘total dreamland’ over Freeport
FREEPORT businesses yesterday blasted the Opposition’s leader as being “in total dreamland” over his defence of the former government’s incentive regime.
Chamber urges: ‘Tighten up and enforce’ Enterprises Bill
THE Chamber of Commerce yesterday urged the Government to “tighten up the language”, and enforce the provisions, in the Commercial Enterprises Bill to prevent potential abuses.
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