business@tribunemedia.net
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2021
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‘We can’t become a nation for sale’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A PROMINENT realtor yesterday voiced fears The Bahamas will become “a nation for sale” unless it quickly gets its $10.4bn national debt and associated economic and fiscal crises under control. Mario Carey, who has also stepped outside the real estate business via his Mario Carey Ventures (MCV) initiative, told Tribune Business that this nation might be forced to sell-off key national assets and patrimony unless it rapidly reckons with a growing debt mountain that is presently
• Top realtor fears forced public asset disposal • Ex-minister backs ‘maximising’ balance sheet • Gov’t must ‘step out of box’ to combat crisis bigger than the Bahamian economy. Speaking after this newspaper revealed that the country’s debt-toGDP ratio stood at 100.4
percent at end-June 2021, he acknowledged that The Bahamas was now in “uncharted territory” when it came to sovereign
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MARIO CAREY
JAMES SMITH
Gov’t urged: Free Bahamians from ‘oppressive governance’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A PROMINENT businessman has urged that all Bahamians be “freed from the burdens of oppressive governance” as he called on the new administration to “peel back” the red tape confronting entrepreneurs. Ethric Bowe, who played a key role in seeking compensation for
businesses impacted by the New Providence Road Improvement Project one decade ago, told Tribune Business in a messaged response to this newspaper’s inquiries that Prime Minister Philip Davis must “remove barriers to business and promote opportunities at every level”. Warning that it was “not morning yet” for The Bahamas, the Advanced Technical Enterprises
chief said this nation was still faced by “rampant corruption” and a national debt that, at $10.4bn, now exceeds the economy’s size. While congratulating Mr Davis on his election success, Mr Bowe called on his government to “start on the right foot” and avoid handing out contracts to favoured persons so that the Bahamian
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ETHRIC BOWE
Realtor backs $1m residency threshold By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE real estate investment threshold for economic permanent residency should be increased from $750,000 to at least $1m, a well-know realtor argued yesterday. Mario Carey, the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate MCR Group principal, asserted to Tribune Business that this would be a better alternative to increasing real property tax rates on high-end homes as some Bahamians have increasingly called for. But, suggesting that the Government go in a different direction, Mr Carey said: “The worst thing they
can do is increase the taxes on the wealthy with regards to real estate, the real property tax. I think that would hurt the most. “I think they should up the threshold for permanent residency from $750,00. I think they should increase the threshold; I don’t see why it can’t be $1m or $1.25m. I don’t see why not. I think The Bahamas has set itself as a standard. We’re on a nice run right now, everybody in the real estate business, but everyone will tell you the bubble will go somewhere. It will end, and what that will look like, nobody knows.” Several observers, including at least one other
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Revised Budget ‘quite necessary’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Government will likely find it “quite necessary” to produce a revised 2021-2022 Budget that reflects its policy priorities and campaign pledges, a well-known accountant is predicting. Craig A. ‘Tony’ Gomez, the Baker Tilly Gomez managing partner, told Tribune Business that passing a supplementary Budget would have to be done quickly given that the fiscal year is almost three months’ old. Suggesting that modifications will be made as the
CRAIG A. ‘TONY’ GOMEZ newly-elected Davis administration gets to grips with the public finances and state of the Public Treasury, he added that a supplementary
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FREDERICK MCALPINE
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KWASI THOMPSON
McAlpine: ‘Stamp out partisan politics’ for good of Bahamas • ‘No one gives a damn’ who had good idea • But criticises large size of Davis Cabinet • Ex-minister: We helped ‘turn a corner’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A FORMER MP yesterday queried the size of Prime Minister Philip Davis’ new Cabinet as he demanded that “partisan politics be stamped out for the sake of The Bahamas”. Frederick McAlpine, who gained 33 percent of the Pineridge vote while standing as an independent candidate in last week’s general election, told Tribune Business that if a policy, law or investment project is beneficial for The Bahamas and its citizens “no one gives a damn who brought it to the table”. Besides urging the major political parties to stop
competing for credit over such initiatives, he added that if he were prime minister he would have opted for a smaller Cabinet to start with and expanded it if need be. Speaking after seven parliamentary secretaries (see articles in News section) were yesterday appointed to join Mr Davis’ 22-strong Cabinet, Mr McAlpine said “some serious money is being doled out” through their addition to the public sector payroll. “This is going to be very interesting,” he added. “You have the Prime Minister saying all hands on deck. I understand the need to have all hands on deck,
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