PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said the government has spent about $290m in direct spending to respond to challenges people and businesses have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, a figure that amounts to 2.5 percent of the country's GDP.

“This does not include the millions of dollars in lost tax revenue and economic activity for The Bahamas,” he said during his budget communication yesterday.

During this fiscal year, the government has spent $194.9m responding to the pandemic.

Dr Minnis said up to March 2021, $25.9m was spent on COVID-19 public health and safety measures to ensure the healthcare system and healthcare workers had what they needed to function.

A total of $118m was spent in government funded unemployment assistance, including direct cash for unemployed and self-employed Bahamians.

“While neighbouring countries may have only provided unemployment assistance for up to three months, my government made the conscious decision and have committed thus far to extend unemployment assistance for some 15 months already to end – July 2021,” Dr Minnis said.

Meanwhile, $32.5m was spent in social assistance, mostly through the food assistance programme while $44.5m was spent as part of a payroll support programme that allowed private businesses to use tax credits to pay their employees.

Dr Minnis said $53.3m was spent in business continuity support to entrepreneurs and small businesses and $5m was given to private schools above their budgeted subventions to provide operational and payroll support.

As part of the government’s COVID-19 programme, more than 1,000 small businesses were approved for loan and grant financing. Dr Minnis said this represented a collective total of $45m that was allocated and disseminated through the Access Accelerator Programme of the Small Business Development Centre. 

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