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MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2025
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Moody’s shrugs off early $400m deficit ‘slippage’ t 3BUJOH VQHSBEF DPVME TMBTI #BIBNBT CPSSPXJOH DPTUT QUT By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net MOODY’S shrugged off the Government’s $400mplus deficit for the first seven months of 2024-2025 by asserting that the past two years’ reductions outweigh any “slippage” from the full 12-month target. While admitting that the Davis administration’s halfyear fiscal performance was “mixed”, and the Government faces “some risks” over hitting both its $69.9m full-year deficit target and revenue goals, the credit rating agency nevertheless gave it the benefit of the doubt regarding its financial position for 2024-2025 to-date. The credit rating agency, in an April 11, 2025, update following last Tuesday’s decision to raise outlook for The Bahamas’ sovereign creditworthiness from ‘stable’ to ‘positive’, forecast that the Government
will likely overshoot its full-year deficit target by projecting this will now hit the equivalent of 1.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Given that the Government’s $69.8m target is equal to 0.5 percent of Bahamian GDP, or economic output, Moody’s is projecting that the deficit - which measures by how much government spending exceeds revenue income - will ultimately be slightly more than double that dollar figure. Based on the 1.1 percent, that translates into a projected deficit of $153.56m. Using Moody’s own figures, which place Bahamian GDP slightly higher, that 1.1 percent is equal to a $168.38m deficit, which places the full-year outcome between $84m and just over $99m higher than the Government’s original projections. And, to even
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Group’s 400% profits jump proves going ‘lateral’ works By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN developer is urging tourism to adopt the “small lateral development” model that has enabled his resort group to “grow revenues and profits by 400 percent” over a ten-year period. Ben Simmons told Tribune Business that the expansion of his Little Island Hotels group, now three properties strong with plans for a fourth well underway, is proof that this concept - and moving away from the “single intensive development” strategy - offers a more sustainable, environmentally-friendly model for hotel and tourism growth especially in the Family Islands. Instead of developers placing “all their eggs in one basket” through investing huge sums of money into just one project, with the likelihood they will never generate the targeted returns, he urged that they and The Bahamas adopt a development model that spreads their investment through multiple islands and properties. While his group is now one of North Eleuthera’s and Harbour Island’s major employers, with staff levels expanding ten-fold to 150 since its first property opened ten years
t %FWFMPQFS QVTIFT NVMUJ IPUFM OPU TJOHMF HSPXUI TUSBUFHZ t "SHVFT CFUUFS TVJUFE UP ASJEF PVU 5SVNQ UBSJGG TUZMF DSJTFT t 4UBGG VQ UFO GPME DVUT GPPE CJMM WJB PXO QSPEVDF ago, Mr Simmons told this newspaper that Little Island Hotels’ growth has been achieved “without taking a single concession from the Government” in the form of tax breaks and other incentives. And, with the group’s third boutique resort, The Farm, focused on agri-tourism and hydroponic and aquaponic growing techniques, he revealed that Little Island Hotels has slashed its food costs by 18-20 percent across all properties through growing its own produce. Mr Simmons, who also operates Ocean View and The Other Side resorts on Harbour Island and mainland Eleuthera, argued that the
development model he is pursuing is more resilient and better suited to “ride out” global economic shocks such as the continuing confidencedamaging uncertainty caused by Donald Trump’s trade and tariff policies. He also suggested that Little Island Hotels’ growth has been at a pace the local community can match and absorb rather than outstripping its capacity to provide the necessary workforce and supplies/resources the group requires. This, Mr Simmons said, had also made it easier for employees to stay with the business and progress from entry-level jobs to “senior posts”. “One of the things I spoke about at the recent [Harbour Island] Business Outlook is sustainable tourism with an agricultural component, and an eco-sensitive approach to tourism, are more likely to withstand economic contractions or any environmental shocks,” he told Tribune Business. “When you are a smallbased business it’s easier to ride these things out. “I was advocating or sharing that we look at this as the future for our development. So, similar to what we’re doing with Little Island Hotels, it’s an example of small
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‘More clarity’ urged on US Chinese ship fee pullback By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN businesses were yesterday anxiously awaiting “more clarity” after the top US trade negotiator promised the up to $1m per port call fee on Chinese-made ships will not be implemented as proposed. While some hailed the position unveiled to Congress by Jamieson Greer, the US Trade Representative, as “excellent news”, others said they are taking nothing for granted and are “on pins and needles” waiting to see all the details that
JAMIESON GREER the Trump administration intends to unveil on Thursday as part of its strategy to drive ship-building back to the US.
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IMF: Mortgage payments double as wages stagnate By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net MORE Bahamians are struggling to afford their own home because wages have remained relatively stagnant while the average monthly mortgage payment has near-doubled since the 21st century started. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), unveiling updated research on The Bahamas’ housing struggles, signalled that affordability is a key factor with nominal monthly
mortgage payments having increased from around $1,000 at the turn of the century to just below $2,000 in 2022-2023. The increase came despite incomes, salaries and other worker compensation being little changed for the past 13 years. “Employee compensation per capita has remained almost unchanged compared to 2012,” the Fund said of The Bahamas. “Average monthly payments on
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