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Tuesday, November 25, 2025
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‘Stay on this course’: IDB hails Bahamas ‘remarkable’ progress By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas must “stay this course” to regain ‘investment grade’ status, a prominent businessman urged yesterday, after the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) hailed the country’s ”remarkable fiscal consolidation” and “fast growth” since emerging from COVID-19’s devastation. Sir Franklyn Wilson, the Arawak Homes and Sunshine Holdings chairman, told Tribune Business that The Bahamas escaping its present ‘junk status with both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s is “very achievable” if the country maintains its present economic and fiscal policies that focus on sustaining higher growth
• Sir Franklyn: Investment grade return ‘very achievable’ • Warns ‘partisan politics’ seeking to ‘distract’ from revival • Bank warns on ‘fiscal fatigue’; debt $2bn above forecast and eliminating the Government’s annual Budget deficits. Speaking after the IDB delivered an upbeat assessment of The
Long Island airport revamp too late for departing tour operator By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net LONG Island’s multi-million dollar airport upgrade has come too late for one tour operator who is preparing to close his business and leave the island with his family due to limited tourism opportunities. Chuck Fox, owner of 4K’s Adventure Tours in Long Island, yesterday told Tribune Business that - while he is cautiously optimistic about the recently-signed $10.9m contract for Deadman’s Cay ‘s new airport terminal - the slow pace of development has already inflicted a personal toll. He added that Long Island’s tourism industry has struggled for multiple years due to limited visitor access to the island, and the long-standing delays in upgrading the airport have only worsened the problem. Describing the decision to leave as “heartbreaking”,
Mr Fox said it is not a choice he wanted to make but one forced by the reality of slow economic activity and insufficient tourism infrastructure. "I'm actually at a point, unfortunately, it's a very, very hard decision for me, but it's been extremely slow on the island. Last year was a slow season, it was the slowest season, and right now this season is starting out slow, too,” said Mr Fox. "So, unfortunately, with different factors, I have to be moving off the island again. Me and my family, we're actually moving in December, if everything goes as planned. If these things would have been already in place by now, and we had more people coming in, the economy would have been boosted and I wouldn't have had to do that, but unfortunately, right now…" Mr Fox explained that the lack of adequate airlift,
PROGRESS - See Page B6
‘Full steam ahead’: Realtor’s monthly closed sales record By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN realtor yesterday asserted it is “full steam ahead” for this nation’s property market after his company generated a monthly record with 49 sales completed in October 2025. John Christie, HG Christie’s president, told Tribune Business that the firm will beat its traditional annual average of 400 real estate sales per year in 2025 as he described the 49 closings as a “wow” moment. He added that this exceeded its typical monthly completed sales average by between 32 and 63 percent. “We usually do about between 30 to 37 a month; something like that, which is still really high, but being at 49… We sell around 400
JOHN CHRISTIE listings a year, sales, every year, so that 49 it’s like ‘wow, look at that’,” Mr Christie confirmed. “It’s good. It shows the market is still going and is full steam ahead, both international and domestic and across all the islands. “It’s really nice to see that number come across in a month. It’s a record for
COMPLETED - See Page B6
Bahamas’ post-COVID progress, he acknowledged that - while this nation is “not out of the woods” from either an economic or fiscal perspective - the collective message from the likes of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and credit rating agencies is that this country is “on the right path” and must “keep doing what you’re doing”. Sir Franklyn, though, voiced misgivings that “partisan politics” is overshadowing The Bahamas’ recovery progress in the four years since the COVID-19 pandemic ended. He argued that the Opposition is seeking “to distract” from the “mounting evidence”, as supplied by the IMF and IDB, that the economy is performing because it has “no case” to suggest it will do better.
The IDB, in a presentation dated November 19, 2025, said The Bahamas has enjoyed “a period of fast growth” since emerging from COVID-19 restrictions with tourism’s “momentum” - especially in the form of cruise passenger arrivals - continuing through this year after driving the post-pandemic revival. The presentation by Dr Jose Luis Saboin, which Tribune Business understands was given to a group of Bahamian business leaders and private sector executives, also praised this nation’s post-COVID fiscal consolidation as “remarkable” amid the Davis administration’s forecasts that it will generate a $75.5m Budget surplus, equal to 0.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), for the first time in Bahamian
SIR FRANKLYN WILSON history in the current 2025-2026 fiscal year. The Bahamas was shown as enjoying the “third highest reduction” in its debt-to-GDP ratio in the Caribbean post-COVID, having cut this from around 100 percent in June 2021 to 75.4 percent exactly four years later. A significant part of the improvement, though, was driven by the economy’s post-COVID reflation although smaller deficits, and thus
RECOVERY - See Page B4
‘Game changer’: Loan facility paves way for $1bn blue carbon bond By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas blue carbon credits “game changer” yesterday received a significant boost from a $25m financing designed to pave the way for a potential $1bn capital raise within the next 12 months. Anthony Ferguson, CFAL’s president, told Tribune Business that the credit facility arranged by ArtCap Strategies, a boutique investment house that focuses on capital-raising deals in Latin America and the Caribbean, will fund the mapping and scientific validation of The Bahamas’ ocean-based carbon ‘sinks’ such as seagrass meadows and mangrove forests.
• $25m raised to fund ‘blue’ asset validation • And open door to new financing sources • CFAL chief: Chance to form ‘new industry’ The investment banker, who has spearheaded the Government’s drive to “monetise” this nation’s ‘blue economy’ assets, explained that - once the amount of carbon removed from the atmosphere by these natural features is verified - The Bahamas will seek to place between a $500m to $1bn “blue
carbon bond” with international investors with the proceeds set to be drawn down over a five-year period. Mr Ferguson told this newspaper that the funds generated “cannot be used for any political whim” but, rather, will be directed towards The Bahamas’ achieving multiple key United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals in areas such as climate change, economic growth and “decent work”, healthcare, resilient infrastructure, and environmental protection and remediation on both land and air. Speaking after the transaction with ArtCap Strategies was formally unveiled, the CFAL chief confirmed a Bloomberg Business News report that the credit facility raised
ANTHONY FERGUSON from investors is worth $25m and there are plans for The Bahamas to seek up to $1bn in blue carbon-based financing within the next year. Mr Ferguson, who is also a director of Carbon Management Ltd, the entity formed to manage the monetisation of The Bahamas’ blue economy assets, and in which the Government holds a 49 percent ownership interest, also affirmed that the $25m loan will fund the
CAPITAL - See Page B4
Liquor vendors need ‘compelling reason’ to be near school, church By ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net THE Department of Inland Revenue (DIR) has confirmed it will delay enforcement of new liquor licensing regulations until April 1, 2026, while warning bars and retailers to provide “compelling reasons” why they should be allowed to operate near schools and churches. The Government’s tax collection agency, which will be responsible for administering and enforcing the new liquor regulatory regime, in messaged replies to Tribune Business inquiries said business owners whose premises were present in an area before a school or church was developed nearby will be allowed to plead their case. “Unfortunately, there are far too many liquor establishments that are located in restricted areas,” the Department of
Inland Revenue said. “In fairness to those that have been in operation prior to the establishment of a neighbouring school or church, they will be given the opportunity to show compelling and satisfactory reasons as to why the Certificate of Registration should be granted. They will also have to show a proven track record of compliance with all relevant laws and regulations with no formal complaints relative to public disturbances.” George Robinson Junior, owner of Base Road Wholesale Bar, said policies such as a liquor store’s proximity to a residential neighbourhood, school or place of worship are not new but were not being enforced, which has led to an over-saturation of alcohol vendors and sources. For this reason, he suggested the Government meet liquor establishments half-way
OPERATE - See Page B6