Port chief brands Nassau Harbour repairs 'non-issue'
Nassau Harbour’s deteriorating breakwaters are “no cause for alarm”, a senior official said yesterday, even though a Cabinet Minister has described repairs as “an absolutely critical project”.Captain Cyril Roker, the Port Department’s controller, dow
Irma helps Bahamas escape EU blacklist
THE Bahamas was yesterday warned not to “rest on our laurels” after it escaped the European Union’s (EU) ‘blacklist’ largely thanks to Hurricane Irma.While the financial services industry and wider economy “dodged a potential bullet”, this resulted f
GB Chamber chief: Make Enterprises Bill more 'flexible'
THE Commercial Enterprises Bill should be made more “flexible” by including “attributes” other than direct capital outlay in the $250,000 investment calculation, a businessman urged yesterday.Mick Holding, the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce’s presi
Bahamas 'must rid itself of the tax haven label'
THE Bahamas “must rid itself of the ‘tax haven’ label”, a senior financial executive said yesterday, after it escaped any further correspondent banking losses at the European Union’s (EU) hands. Tanya McCartney, the Bahamas Financial Services Board’s
DPM: Proper internal auditing would have saved Gov't millions
THE Deputy Prime Minister yesterday said the Government could have saved Bahamian taxpayers millions of dollars if it had an effective internal audit programme.K Peter Turnquest, addressing a Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) and Asso
Fiscal rules 'no panacea', warns an IDB economist
FISCAL rules are “not a panacea” but can prevent misplaced government spending priorities, an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) economist said yesterday. Allan Wright, a Bahamas-based economist, speaking at a fiscal policy workshop hosted by the
Gov't 'carefully looking' to defuse $2.2bn liability
THE Deputy Prime Minister yesterday said the Government was “looking very carefully” at how to defuse the ticking timebomb that is its $2.2 billion unfunded civil service pension liability.K P Turnquest said the Minnis administration knew it had to m
Tourism's annual meeting addresses industry issues
THE Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) recent annual general meeting (AGM) focused on issues affecting tourism, including reduced airlift to certain Family Islands as a result of inoperative airport fire/safety equipment.The meeting heard
Bahamians warned: 'Brace' for 15-20% premium rises
Bahamian businesses and households were yesterday warned to “brace” for insurance premium increases of up to 15-20 per cent as a result of the 2017 hurricane season.Property and casualty insurers warned of potentially “significant” rate increases as
Baha Mar sale meets December 1st deadline
BAHA Mar’s sale to Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE) was completed by the December 1 closing deadline, Tribune Business has been informed.The $4.2 billion project’s purchase from the China Export-Import Bank was confirmed by sources close to the situa
Grand Lucayan buyer must 'put us back on map'
SELLING the Grand Lucayan to a “destination builder” is the only way to place Freeport “back on the tourism map”, a prominent hotelier warned yesterday, after the Government paused its own acquisition bid.Magnus Alnebeck, Pelican Bay’s managing direc
Gov't targeting 'fiscal rule' legislation by March 2018
THE Government will introduce legislation for ‘fiscal rules’ in February/March 2018 to prevent “runaway spending”, the Deputy Prime Minister said yesterday. K P Turnquest said the Minnis administration was committed to introducing the legislation in
Gov't eyes 'contingency bonds' for storm funding
THE government is exploring “contingency bonds” as a means of providing emergency funding for major hurricane-related catastrophes, the Deputy Prime Minister said yesterday.K Peter Turnquest, speaking at a fiscal policy workshop hosted by the Inter-A
Bahamas not exploited data from 100m visitors
A FORMER tourism minister yesterday said the Bahamas must use visitor data to assess trends and make better “business decisions”, adding: “We haven’t used it to the degree we should have”.Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, founder of the Bedford Baker Group
Sterling names ex-minister to head new advisory unit
DAVID Kosoy’s Sterling Global Financial has named a former Cabinet minister to head its newly-created advisory arm. The real estate development financier has appointed Khaalis Rolle, ex-minister of state for investments, to lead Sterling Global Advis
