business@tribunemedia.net
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2023
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Bahamas beats airlines; US has ‘strong concerns’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN airlines yesterday escaped the threat of US sanctions after federal authorities rejected the aviation industry’s accusations that this nation’s air navigation fees regime is “discriminatory”. Anthony Hamilton, Southern Air’s director of administration, and president of the Bahamas Association of Air Transport Operators, told Tribune Business it was “a major relief” that local carriers no longer face the possibility of being restricted or barred completely from the US market after the Biden government’s Department of Transportation ruled in this nation’s favour. Dismissing the complaint by the Airlines4America
consortium, whose members include American Airlines, Jet Blue, FedEx, Delta, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, and the United Parcel Service, it found that the charges could not stand as the fees imposed by The Bahamas were the same as those levied on this nation’s carriers and those from other foreign countries. The Department of Transportation found that the same air navigation service fees applied regardless of whether aircraft were landing in, or taking off, from The Bahamas or simply passing through this country’s air space headed towards another destination. As a result, it ruled: “We cannot conclude in those circumstances that the fee structure constitutes unjustifiable or unreasonable discrimination.”
Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister, and minister of tourism, investments and aviation, in a statement yesterday hailed the Department of Transportation’s verdict as upholding Bahamian sovereignty and the country’s right to determine the fee structure it wishes to impose on the aviation industry for use of its air space. Noting that the US regulator has rejected the airline industry’s allegations of “unfair practices”, he said: “The Department of Transportation recognised the sovereignty of The Bahamas to charge these fees and collect them. “The Department of Transportation raised questions about the methodology used to assess the fees and is seeking to have a clearer understanding of the matter through bilateral
‘Come clean’: $232m loan ‘Don’t water made lawful retroactively down’ fiscal
transparency
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Opposition yesterday demanded the Government “come clean” over its $232.3m IMF special drawing rights (SDRs) borrowing after reforms were tabled in Parliament to retroactively make the transaction lawful. Kwasi Thompson, the FNM’s finance spokesman, questioned “what was the urgent need” for the Government to obtain the advance prior to changing the Central Bank of The Bahamas Act. The Bill tabled yesterday contains
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
KWASI THOMPSON language stating it “shall be deemed to have come into force on December 1, 2022”, thus making its implementation and legal effect retroactive to when
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GOVERNANCE reformers yesterday urged that fiscal accountability and transparency are “not lost and watered down” through a comprehensive reform package unveiled by the Prime Minister. Matt Aubry, the Organisation for Responsible Governance’s executive director, voiced concern that key elements in the existing Fiscal Responsibility Act and Public Financial Management Act be retained in the 108-page
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‘Wary’ over deficit rise, $76m spend increase • Mid-Year Budget projects $11.4m deficit widening • And ‘conservative’ $53m rise in full-year revenue • Capital budget cut $12m; SIE subsidies up $35m
CHESTER COOPER
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Public Finance Management Bill 2023 that was tabled in the House of Assembly yesterday. The Bill, which had its first reading, was introduced by Philip Davis KC as he slammed the existing fiscal regulatory regime for “severely hampering the legitimate operations of the Government” through not being aligned with the practical realities that exist in The Bahamas. Accusing the former Minnis administration of being on “autopilot” by its enactment of the Public Procurement Act, Public Finance Management Act, Public Debt Management Act and the Fiscal Responsibility Act package in their current forms, the Prime Minister charged: “None of the legislation reflects the situation which actually exists within The Bahamas, and their provisions severely hampered the legitimate operations of the Government.....
BAHAMIANS should be “wary” but not alarmed after the Government yesterday revealed a modest $11.4m increase to its forecast 2022-2023 fiscal deficit along with HUBERT a similar-sized capital spending EDWARDS cut-back. Fiscal observers said the revised $575.4m deficit, up from the originally planned $564m, was “not material in the grand scheme of things” as the Davis administration unveiled a $76.5m increase in its recurrent or ‘fixed cost’ spending above the estimates produced in last May’s Budget. Gowon Bowe, Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief executive, said he and other private sector chiefs who attended Monday’s Business Round Table meeting with the Prime Minister and key Cabinet members were informed that both revenue and public spending “in certain cases” were outpacing the 2022-2023 Budget projections. Asserting that the $11.4m deficit increase is “nothing to write home about”, he told Tribune Business that yesterday’s mid-year Budget appeared consistent with the message delivered to the private sector. “They indicated at the briefing that they should be able to come in at the deficit projected,” Mr Bowe said. “They had indicated some of the revenue elements
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consultation at the state level under the provisions of the Air Transport Agreement that exists between The Bahamas and the US. We expect these consultations will begin within 60 days.
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