Thursday, May 30, 2019 Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest presented the 2019/2020 Budget Communication in the House of Assembly yesterday. As of this past Friday, May 22nd, external reserves stood at $1.986 billion, which is equivalent to some 28 weeks of imports. To help offset the revenue loss associated with the economic fallout and our tax relief measures, I mentioned earlier that we have, where possible and prudent, effected a reduction in discretionary spending across most Government agencies. The Government will not compromise public health and safety; The Government will not contribute to any further unemployment; The Government will not let its citizens go hungry;  and. It is a lot easier to keep a person afloat than fighting to drag them back to the surface. Reduced a number of allocations on discretionary items. Turnquest delivered a sobering projection for the 2020/2021 fiscal year in the House of […] Introduction. Together, these events have delivered the fastest, deepest economic shock to The Bahamas since the onset of the Second World War. I am an investment or money management professional. The threat of COVID-19 is two-fold, given its life threatening public health ramifications, and the associated economic outcomes. Budget Speech 2016; Budget Speech 2015; Budget Speech 2014; Budget Speech 2013 ; Budget Speech 2012 ; Budget Speech 2011; Budget Estimates. This will indeed secure the future of Bahamians, and the wealth of our nation. As such we anticipate total revenue for FY2020/21 of some $1.7 billion, which represents a $328.1 million, or 15.7 percent decline over the projected outcome for FY2019/20. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. The SBDC will continue to innovate, by exploring ways to leverage the Government's investment to make other forms of capital available to Bahamians such as private equity through angel investing and crowdfunding. Official links. We will stand united in support of people and communities, businesses and consumers, who are already feeling the strain. COVID-19 Emergency Orders and Powers, 2020; February 10, 2021 Scam Alert: Bahamas Customs Auction; February 1, 2021 Cruising Permit Module Launch 2021; January 27, 2021 Licensed Couriers/ Freight Forwarders 2021; January 18, 2021 Licensed Customs Brokers 2021; January 13, 2021 SERZ Order Extension Guide (Grand Bahama… January 4, 2021 29 May 2019. Mr. Speaker, On the expenditure front, outlays are anticipated to feature continued spend for hurricane rebuilding efforts, coupled with new outlays for measures related specifically to COVID-19. As such, global growth is projected to rebound to 5.8 percent in 2021, as a result of policy support measures to underpin the return of economic activity. The budget communication today was uninspiring, unimaginative, unimpressive and, quite frankly, unbelievable. Thus, in essence, the local production of food and other items in the domestic economy was equivalent to less than 4 percent of GDP. We will also be reviewing all consultancies to determine which can be deferred or canceled. The fiscal outlook for 2020/21 is framed within the context of the global pandemic, and the lagged impact of Hurricane Dorian, which would have been built into our forecasts at the time of the first Adjustment Plan. A full schedule will be published detailing the items to be included in all of the listed categories. Bahamas recorded a Government Budget deficit equal to 1.70 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2019. Most sectors of our economy will take time to restart and many businesses will need time to rebuild and rebound. His address presented in the House of Assembly May 29, 2019 centred upon ‘a new era of openness and accountability.’ Read/download the full communication here: PLEASE CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY . The Government will do all that it can to stabilize the economy and prepare it for a strong and robust rebound. The budget communication today was uninspiring, unimaginative, unimpressive and, quite frankly, unbelievable. As mentioned earlier, we will deliver a more detailed timeline in the 2020 Fiscal Strategy Report; however, early estimates project that the Government is now likely to achieve its 0.5 percent fiscal ratio no earlier than FY2026/27--some two years beyond the first Fiscal Adjustment Plan. To date, this Government has advanced its digital agenda through the conversion from the old Electronic Customs Automated System (eCas) to the new Electronic Single Window at the Customs Department, the digitization of passport registration at the Passport Office, and the ongoing revamp of the Real Property Tax system which will allow for the complete automation of the existing system. As a result, we have budgeted recurrent spending at $2.6 billion, which is $35.3 million or 1.4 percent higher than the revised budgeted sum of $2.5 billion for the Supplementary Budget. Given that allocations to the Public Health Authority represents our largest subvention to SOEs, the Government cannot give effect to reform in the SOE sector without determining how it will make delivery of basic health care more efficient and effective. Nevertheless, the large stimulus package offered by the U.S. Government and monetary measures taken by the Federal Reserve to expand liquidity are likely to provide a direct impetus to aggregate demand. Even though our ultimate objective has not changed—to achieve sustainable growth for both the medium and long-term, in The Bahamas—our short-term strategy and our overall thinking about the future has had to shift. Real GDP in the U.S. is anticipated to contract by 5.9 percent in 2020. By Ashley Penn-Nixon Compass Correspondent The economic stability of the country was pushed to the forefront following the 2020/2021 budget communication as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance K. Peter Turnquest outlined the way forward following the COVID-19 shortfall. But after back to back monumental economic catastrophes, we find ourselves in a very different place and with a very different reality. The CPC, in partnership with its sister agencies Bahamas Bureau of Standards and Quality (BBSQ), Prices Commission and Consumer Affairs, will once again come together to spearhead and coordinate activities to commemorate World Consumer Rights Day 2020 in The Bahamas. COVID-19 has thrust The Bahamas and the world into this crisis, and we are still in the thick of the emergency. COMMUNICATION DE LA COMMISSION AU PARLEMENT EUROPÉEN, AU CONSEIL, AU COMITÉ ÉCONOMIQUE ET SOCIAL EUROPÉEN ET AU COMITÉ DES RÉGIONS Un budget pour la stratégie Europe 2020 {SEC(2011) 867 final} {SEC(2011) 868 final} FR 1 FR Avant-propos L'Union européenne œuvre chaque jour à la réalisation des aspirations de ses 500 millions d’habitants. While I will speak to the numbers in greater detail later, let me say upfront that the Resilient Bahamas Plan will come at a necessary but unprecedented cost. Press alt + / to open this menu. Tourist arrivals exceeded 7 million in 2019, marking the highest levels of arrivals recorded in the history of The Bahamas. We will continue to rely on them, even as we have begun our five step phased reopening, because our work is far from over. Almost uniformly, all countries of the region, and indeed the world, are facing similar fiscal situations and in almost every instance they are responding with expanded deficit funding to meet critical COVID-19 health care needs, to expand their social welfare spending, to keep their people employed, and to keep their economies stable.