Amid Global Economic Slowdown, Davis Administration Achieves Over 4% GDP Growth, Surpluses, and Unprecedented Fiscal Discipline; Updates on Bold Initiatives for Clean Energy, Education, and Family Island Development.
Nassau, The Bahamas – Prime Minister Philip Davis presented a mid-year budget contribution to Parliament Wednesday reflecting the Administration’s advancement of its strategic development plan and its focus on improving the lives of Bahamians.
“Currently, the world is going through an economic slowdown. Countries around the world are seeing a decline in GDP growth. Some are even seeing a contraction. Governments are tightening their belts and bracing for rough landings,” Prime Minister Davis told parliament.
“It is a testament to the effectiveness of our economic strategies that our economy – a tourism-reliant, import-dependent economy – continues to see GDP growth at a rate of over 4%, placing us above the global average, above many so-called self-sufficient and developed economies, which saw their economies slow to 1.4% growth,” he added.
The Prime Minister’s contribution also highlighted consecutive half-years of surpluses, also reflecting the Administration’s commitment to more effective revenue generation and expense management. It is forecast that the current revenue enhancement measures are expected to realize the goal of revenue accounting for 25% of GDP in just a few years.
The Administration also prioritized public service promotions, marking the first public service-wide promotion exercise in nine years and resumed annual increment payments, thereby placing an additional $18 million in the pockets of Bahamians.
Unemployment numbers have also receded to their lowest level since before the 2008 recession.
The Administration has also made considerable progress in meeting the demand for affordable housing and providing loans and grants to support small and medium-sized enterprises.
The National School Breakfast pilot programme, launched last year, is about to be expanded to even more schools and new educational initiatives to counter learning loss suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic are being advanced.
Family Island development continues to be a priority with private and public sector investments in infrastructure and roadworks throughout the Family Islands and several major public-private partnerships, including The Renaissance Airport Initiative that will expand and modernise the 14 airports throughout the Family Islands.
Solar energy for New Providence, LNG as a partner fuel, and the transformation of the infrastructure remain critical to the Administration’s thrust to lower burdensome energy costs.
Accordingly, the Davis Administration looks forward to announcing, in short order, initiatives to increase reliability, add cleaner energy, provide additional training for BPL workers – and strengthen the company’s financial position.
The Davis Administration has committed to not introducing new taxes that will directly impact Bahamian families but will be resolute in the collection of outstanding taxes, which has already been seen from the collection of up to $800 million in real property tax arrears.
