Tax breaks on derelict properties ‘big deal’ says real estate chief
A former Bahamas Real Estate Association (BREA) president yesterday praised the government for its decision to effectively offer an incentive to owners of derelict buildings in New Providence who intend to either demolish or renovate them, telling this newspaper: “That’s a big deal”.
Chamber Chief: Business licence management offer ‘still on the table’
Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) chief executive Edison Sumner said that the chamber’s proposal to assume responsibility for the management of the business licences register was “still on the table”, adding that the private sector representative was still seeking to have the Government review the entire business licence fee structure.
NTA director fires back over $22m apprenticeship programme criticism
The National Training Agency’s (NTA) has shot down Opposition criticism that the Christie administration’s revamped $22m apprenticeship program is merely a retread of the Ingraham administration’s 52-week jobs programme, telling Tribune Business: “We have raised the standard.”
DNA: PLP mortgage relief plan needs more
The PLP’s proposed Mortgage Relief Programme Needs More!
‘Not everyone’ made whole on Baha Mar
The Bahamian construction industry was yesterday “cautiously optimistic” that a resolution to its collective $74 million Baha Mar receivable is in sight, although “not everyone” will be made ‘whole’.
Govt avoids ‘pie in the sky’ Budget
The Government appears to have avoided the “typical pie in the sky” pre-election Budget, the Chamber of Commerce’s chairman said yesterday, while conceding: “The numbers may tell a different story.”
Govt’s Baha Mar deal ‘muddies sale process’
The Government’s purported deal with the Chinese for Baha Mar’s construction completion has only “muddied and confused” the situation further, an ex-Board member yesterday suggesting they were taking a ‘backwards’ approach to resolving the impasse.
Real property tax amnesty branded ‘counter-intuitive’
The Opposition’s deputy leader yesterday slammed the Government’s frequent real property tax arrears amnesties as “counter-intuitive”, arguing that they effectively penalised compliant home and business owners.
Financial firm bucks ‘contraction’ trends
A Nassau-based financial services provider yesterday said it was “bucking the trend” of contraction in the Bahamian financial services sector with the launch of its own private bank and trust subsidiary, its chairman telling Tribune Business: “It simply gives us less competition”.
IAN FERGUSON: How to minimise workplace conflict
When we consider the length of time we spend in the workplace, and the many different personalities we encounter, it is not surprising that we come into occasional conflict.
FNM deputy slams Gov’t on apprentice initiative
The Opposition’s finance spokesman yesterday said it was “disingenuous” for the Christie administration to tout its $20 million apprenticeship programme as something different than the 52-week job programme launched by the former Ingraham administration, and which it had heavily criticised.
PM cuts 2016 GDP growth to just 0.5%
Prime Minister Perry Christie yesterday slashed a full percentage point off the Bahamas’ projected economic growth for 2016, cutting real GDP expansion estimates to just 0.5 per cent.
Govt raises deficit estimate to $100m
The Government yesterday forecast a more modest pace for fiscal consolidation, projecting a higher $100 million GFS deficit for the upcoming 2016-2017 Budget year compared to its estimates a year ago.
BOB two years from profitability
Prime Minister Perry Christie yesterday revealed it will take a further two years for Bank of the Bahamas to return to profitability, as he confirmed plans to recapitalise the troubled institution.
PM: Atlantis makes granting Chinese demands impossible
The Prime Minister yesterday said Atlantis’s ‘most favoured investor’ status made it impossible for him to grant the type of incentives the Chinese were said to be demanding over Baha Mar.
