business@tribunemedia.net
Tuesday, May 12, 2026
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Election contenders urged to back total oil drill prohibition BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net ENVIRONMENTAL activists have called on all political candidates to publicly disclose whether they support a ban on oil drilling in The Bahamas ahead of today’s general election as the last explorer’s successor continues to mull whether to launch legal action against the Government. Casuarina McKinney-Lambert, executive director of The Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF), told Tribune Business that the Our Islands, Our Future (OIOF) coalition of which her group is part has written to all PLP, FNM and Coaliton of Independents (COI) candidates asking them to reveal their stance on such a ban given that imposing one would be “for the well-being of all Bahamians”. Urging voters to cast their ballots “based on policy actions” of the major parties and their candidates, she argued that prohibiting further exploration activities - both on land in Bahamian territorial waters - will safeguard this nation’s critical tourism and fisheries industries, as well as support the country’s
Alarm over NIB ‘near term solvency crisis’ BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE National Insurance Board (NIB) “faces a near-term solvency crisis even under optimistic assumptions”, the Inter-American Development Board (IDB) is warning, with the survival of social protections for thousands of Bahamians not featuring as a key general election issue. The multilateral lender, in a just-released assessment of social security systems in The Bahamas and wider Caribbean, sounded the alert that “deeper structural reforms” are needed immediately to prevent NIB’s failure with adjustments involving the capping of administrative expenses, boosting compliance and raising investment returns only prolonging the inevitable and offering modest breathing space.
IDB warns of crunch even under ‘optimistic assumptions’ Major parties silent on survival of safety net for thousands Reform must be in ‘top five priorities’: ‘We can’t let it die’ The report, ‘Long-term social insurance in the Caribbean’, said that restricting NIB’s administrative expenses to 1 percent of insurable wages and increasing investment returns by two percentage points per year will only delay the complete depletion of the Bahamian social
Gov’t revenue pace lags prior year’s besides VAT BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Government slashed its year-to-date deficit by 13.4 percent during February 2026, it has been disclosed, although its revenue collection pace remains behind the prior year’s first eight months except in its key VAT revenue stream. The Ministry of Finance, unveiling the Government’s February fiscal performance, revealed that it generated a $45.3m surplus for the month, meaning that total revenue income exceeded collective spending. However, that represented a $13.3m or 22.8 percent decline on the $58.8m surplus that the Davis administration produced in February 2025. This leaves the Government needing to produce a $368.4m positive swing during the final four months of the 2025-2026 fiscal year if it is to hit its $75.5m Budget surplus target for the 12 months, albeit this coincides with the revenue-rich months of March and April when taxes and other income streams are boosted by peak winter tourism and economic activity, Business Licence fee payments, the bulk of real property tax collections and commercial vehicle licensing month. The end-February deficit, covering the 2025-2026 fiscal year’s first eight months, stood at $292.3m to signal that the Government has some work to do to reach the projected surplus. And, as the Fiscal Responsibility Council’s recent mid-year Budget report made clear, it may have to achieve its $75.5m target without the benefit of $130m in projected corporate income tax revenues as the mechanism to collect this levy has not yet been implemented. The Ministry of Finance’s February report also revealed that the pace of revenue collection for the first eight months, as a percentage of the 2025-2026 full-year target, is lagging behind 2024-2025’s except in the most important revenue stream - VAT. VAT revenues, standing at $1.017bn at end-February, represented 66.7 percent or
LARRY GIBSON security system’s $1.44bn reserve fund “to the early 2030s” - just a few years beyond their presently-forecast 2028 exhaustion. The threat posed to the sustainability of Bahamian retirement pensions, as well as multiple shortterm benefits such as unemployment,
BENEFITS - See Page B4
Family Guardian seeks ‘growth’ with 20% Bahamas First stake BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net FAMILY Guardian’s acquisition of a 20 percent ownership interest in Bahamas First is occurring amid a lack of “growth options” for the industry, a fellow insurer asserted yesterday, as the latter company confirmed the
Card, cheque fraud jumps 48.5% in ‘25 BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net CARD and cheque fraud incidents in The Bahamas increased by 48.5 percent to 17,342 last year, the Central Bank has revealed, although the collective sum involved in such suspected crime was cut by two-thirds to $6.2m.
FISCAL - See Page B6
deal revealed by Tribune Business last week. Sir Franklyn Wilson, chairman of RoyalStar Assurance, one of Bahamas First’s main property and casualty underwriting rivals, told Tribune Business that Family Guardian’s Board and management had likely determined making the investment would generate more value, and higher returns, for shareholders than
simply returning capital to them via dividends. While the BISX-listed life and health insurer is acquiring the largest equity interest in Bahamas First, it is well short of giving it majority control, but Sir Franklyn said it will still be sufficient to give Family Guardian Board seats and a “voice of influence and meaning” in the carrier’s future direction. There may also be potential synergies that can be exploited between Bahamas First and Family Guardian’s general insurance agency and brokerage, which places property and casualty business. Sir Franklyn spoke after Bahamas First, following this newspaper’s exclusive
The banking regulator, in its 2025 annual report, confirmed that some 96.7 percent of these reported fraud attempts occurred on New Providence. “Disaggregated by type, debit card fraud comprised 83.7 percent of all the cases, while the corresponding value represented 45.1 percent of the overall value,” it said. “The volume of credit card fraud constituted 15.8 percent of all cases and 22.1 percent of the attendant value. With the sustained reduction in cheque usage, reported fraud was less than 1 percent (0.5 percent) of total
PAYMENT - See Page B5
CENTRAL BANK OF THE BAHAMAS HQ
Activists: ‘We need ban to eliminate future threat’ Explorer says still mulling whether to sue Gov’t Permitting activity will undermine carbon credits efforts to secure a leadership position in the fight against climate change and preserve “carbon sinks” such as seagrass meadows. Ms McKinney told this newspaper that an oil exploration ban is needed to eliminate the potential environmental threats posed by such activities even though Sintana Energy, the successor to Challenger Energy Group, which drilled the last exploratory well in Bahamian waters in 2020-2021, signalled in its recently-release annual results it is unlikely to seek permission for further research in this nation,
DRILLING - See Page B5 revelation of the deal, confirmed that Family Guardian is acquiring 19.71 percent of its shares from the Canadian insurer, Definity, and its predecessor, The Economical Insurance Group (TEIG). “The Board of Directors of Bahamas First Holdings has been advised by its 19.71 percent shareholder, TEIG Holding Company (Barbados), that it has entered into an agreement to sell its 19.71 percent interest in Bahamas First Holdings to Family Guardian Insurance Company. There is no impact on the operations of Bahamas First Holdings or any of its subsidiaries as a
PURCHASE - See Page B4