business@tribunemedia.net
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2021
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‘Prove IMF wrong or Bahamas sinks’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas “must prove the IMF wrong” by soundly beating economic growth forecasts that “cannot work” in sustaining this nation’s spiralling debt, a governance reformer warned yesterday. Robert Myers, the Organisation for Responsible Governance’s (ORG) principal, told Tribune Business that The Bahamas has simply “got to do better” than the 1.5 percent gross domestic product (GDP) expansion the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is predicting for 2026. The Fund, in its latest World Economic Outlook, held firm to its 2 percent and 8 percent GDP expansions in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Mr Myers, though, said that
• Fund’s 1.5% growth forecast for 2026 ‘cannot work’ • Bahamas must ‘get in boat together, and row hard’ • And Gov’t ‘must not drown in public sector red tape’ while the latter figure may look impressive, it really only represents The Bahamas recovering some - though not all - of the tourism output lost to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions.
Arguing that defying the IMF’s expectations, and surpassing them to consistently achieve 5 percent annual growth rates, will be “the challenge for every Bahamian” as well as the Government, the
ROBERT MYERS ORG chief said all stakeholders have little choice but to “get in the boat together and row hard” to pull the country out of its post-COVID and Dorian doldrums.
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‘Blind attorney’ loses over fresh $30m estate appeal By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN attorney who alleged he was “legally blind” has suffered another defeat in his bid to appeal sanctions imposed upon him relating to the management of a $30m estate. Justice Milton Evans, in a unanimous Court of Appeal
verdict, rejected Gregory Cottis’ effort to appeal penalties imposed for “13 breaches” of Supreme Court orders on the basis that there was “every reason” to believe his conduct was “part of an intentional strategy to delay the action from proceeding”. Mr Cottis and his attorney, Damian Gomez QC, former minister of state for legal affairs, had gone directly to the Court of Appeal after
Justice Indra Charles declined to give them “a second bite at the cherry” to challenge her sanctions order. Those penalties were imposed after Mr Cottis failed to comply with Justice Charles’ orders requiring him to turn over all records relating to the late Raymond Adams’ estate to the courtappointed judicial trustee. Attorneys for Robert Adams, Mr Adams’ son and
one of the estate’s beneficiaries, have accused Mr Cottis of deliberately “obstructing” the successor trustee, Ernst & Young (EY) accountant, Igal Wizman, in a bid to coverup his “incompetence.... and hold the estate hostage to his own illegitimate attempts to recover more than his legallyentitled compensation”.
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GB requires ‘critical mass like yesterday’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net GRAND Bahama’s Chamber of Commerce president says the island needs to regain critical mass “like yesterday”, adding: “We desperately need jobs here.” Greg Laroda, speaking after the newly-elected Davis administration pledged to create “a onestop shop” for Bahamian and foreign investors to do business in Grand Bahama, told Tribune Business he also backed its Speech from the Throne promise to extend tax breaks to both East and West End.
GREG LARODA While the incentives for both areas had continued under the former Minnis administration, he added that they “got lost in the
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Entrepreneur relives exporting ‘nightmare’ By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net A FREEPORT entrepreneur yesterday branded exporting a “nightmare” due to costs that are more than quadruple product prices and delays encountered in getting sales to customers. Tenisha Carey, owner/ operator of Baha Gala, told Tribune Business: “International sales have slowed a bit only because I had to pause my FC (Fulfilment Centre) Amazon account, and also slowed down my website, because there’s an
issue shipping from The Bahamas. “The only option we have right now is USPS, which is through the postal service, and they can take anywhere from between six to eight weeks - especially from Grand Bahama. And especially for Grand Bahama, the Post Office has been closing at 1pm in the afternoon even before COVID-19, and then when COVID-19 hit everything shut down.” Ms Carey continued: “Even before COVID-19 it was difficult because we had the same issue in Nassau, due to the mould in the old
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RBC DEPOSIT ACCOUNT NOTICE
Ex-minister: Ditch RBC over zero deposit rates • Bank blames ‘market conditions’ for slash • Loretta advises: ‘Withdraw every penny’ • Bahamians paying RBC to secure savings By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A FORMER Cabinet minister yesterday urged Bahamians to pull their money from Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) after it cut interest rates on savings accounts and term deposits to zero. Loretta Butler-Turner, who temporarily replaced Dr Hubert Minnis as the Opposition’s House of Assembly leader prior to the 2017 general election, told Tribune Business that the Canadian-owned bank’s move would result in depositors/savers losing money as the value of their holdings is eroded by the highest
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