The fiscal deficit more than doubled before the passage of Hurricane Matthew and landed at $310.4 million at the end of the 2015/2016 fiscal year.
The Christie administration has continually asserted that Hurricanes Matthew and Joaquin led to unexpected spending, which placed a dent in the government's original fiscal targets.
The Central Bank of The Bahamas' (CBOB) 2016 Annual Report revealed yesterday that the deficit for the 2015/2016 fiscal year was "more than double in comparison to budget forecasts of $139.1 million".
The deficit for the fiscal year did, however, decrease by 18.8 percent from the 2014/2015 fiscal year.
The deficit for the first half of the current fiscal year (2016/2017) is an estimated $277 million.
"Underlying this outturn, aggregate spending firmed by 8.1 percent to $1,128.8 million, while total revenue decreased by five percent to $851.8 million," said CBOB.
During the mid-year budget communication, Prime Minister Perry Christie said by the end of the budget period, the deficit would be an estimated $350 million as a result of rebuilding efforts caused by Hurricane Matthew.
The government spent nearly $100 million to repair infrastructure and government buildings after the passage of Hurricane Joaquin.
Despite both natural disasters taking a toll on the government's fiscal plans, revenue intake for the 2015/2016 fiscal year grew by 11.7 percent, and $627.9 million was collected in value-added tax (VAT).
In terms of current expenditures, there was an increase of $293.1 million, representing an increase of 17.1 percent; this was approximately 3.5 percent higher than budget estimates, said the Central Bank.
For the first seven months of the 2016/2017 fiscal year, the government collected $933.9 million in tax receipts.
"In the fiscal sector, the success of the government's fiscal consolidation efforts will depend heavily on positive contributions from its measures to strengthen revenue collections," the regulator said.
"However, pressures on expenditures in the aftermath of the hurricane are likely to persist for an extended period, thereby limiting its ability to constrain expenditure growth."

Debt to GDP
As previously reported, the estimated debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 77.9 percent at the end of the year and consecutively increased since 2014.
The national debt is now more than $7 billion.
"At end-December, the ratio of the direct charge to GDP stood at an estimated 69.9 percent, a rise of 3.1 percentage points over 2015," said the regulator.

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