Credit Reporting Agencies

Government hopes to pay off $300 million maturing bond early 

Government hopes to retire some $300 million it will soon owe in maturing bonds, Minister of Economic Affairs Michael Halkitis said yesterday, adding that the there are plans in place to handle a number of other large payouts the government will owe in the near-term. "We have a plan," Halkitis said. "We have various resources ...
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Questionable claims in the mid-year budget

Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Philip Davis' Mid-Year Budget Communication in the House of Assembly yesterday was a mixture of good news, sound policy and questionable claims. No one can intelligently argue that the economy is not performing well or that the government's revenue performance is not surpassing projections. How much the government has ...
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Halkitis: S&P report confirms country on strong fiscal course

Credit rating agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) affirmation of The Bahamas' sovereign credit rating has raised confidence in the country's economic future both locally and internationally, Minister of Economic Affairs Michael Halkitis said yesterday, adding that he expects the economic recovery to continue the strong course it is on. He was answering questions from reporters ...
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The potentially destabilizing effect of demographic change

Last month, Moody's credit rating agency published a report that indicated the potentially negative economic and political implications of demographic change in the Caribbean and Central America. It suggested that if government and the private sector do not make significant improvements in education, healthcare and [...]
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Rolle: Fewer constituency contracts to be offered

The government is seeking to reduce the number of small contracts given for work on a constituency level, compared to what was being doled out by the previous administration, according to Minister of the Public Service and National Insurance Brensil Rolle.
Rolle made the revelation in a recent interview on a Guardian Radio talk show, noting that public sector belt-tightening will shift the dynamic...

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Government must improve tax collection, says BCCEC chairman

Government must move to improve tax enforcement and update and improve its customs duty collection at the border, Chairman of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers' Confederation (BCCEC) Mike Maura told Guardian Business yesterday.
His comments came on the heels of Moody's releasing its latest report, in which the international credit ratings agency maintained the country's Baa3 rating, ba...

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A tall order

Stop the press. Opposition Leader Philip Brave Davis is shocked that the Minnis administration intends to borrow $722 million out the gate.
Davis apparently was lying under a rock for the last five years as the Christie administration drove us to the brink of the fiscal cliff.
But he did offer an explanation for the GFS deficit ballooning from a projected $100 million to $500 million: Hurricane Ma...

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Minnis disputes PM's jobs claim

Free National Movement (FNM) Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis deepened his indictment of Prime Minister Perry Christie yesterday, declaring that he has lost touch with the "reality that the majority of Bahamians face in their everyday lives" and his recent pronouncements only demonstrate how "delusional" he has become...

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FNM: PM's view of economy is a fairy tale

PRIME Minister Perry Christie's overly optimistic outlook of the economy is predicated on the upcoming 2017 general election said Free National Movement Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest, as he castigated the government for painting a "fairy tale" picture, which is in direct conflict with this country's current state.

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