…continue >

Prime Minister the Rt Hon Perry Gladstone Christie holds up the Progressive Liberal Party’s Charter for Governance, which holds many of the policy thrusts announced in the Government’s 2012/2013 Budget. (BIS Photo/Patrick Hanna)

Prime Minister Perry Christie has announced initial policy actions that he claims will allow the government to arrest the growth in the debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio by 2014/15, and begin a gradual reduction in the ratio to just over 50 per cent of GDP by 2016/17.

To achieve these two goals, recurrent revenue will be significantly and structurally enhanced through a wide range of measures, the Prime Minister said during the 2012/2013 Mid-Year Budget Statement on the six months ending December 31, 2012 at the House of Assembly, February 25, 2013.

…continue >

Prime Minister Perry Christie said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that the Bahamian economy will grow by 2.7 per cent in real terms in 2013.

While presenting the 2012/2013 Mid-Year Budget Statement at the House of Assembly, February 25, the Prime Minister also said that the IMF estimates that the economy grew by 2.5 per cent in real terms in 2012, as was projected in the 2012/2013 Budget.

However, Christie noted that given emerging developments, he is confident that the Bahamian economy can achieve significantly stronger growth, with the creation of additional employment opportunities.

…continue >

In his mid-year budget statement, Prime Minister Perry Christie reiterated his government’s commitment to a course of “prudent stewardship” of the nation’s economy and fiscal affairs, one that includes no increases in taxes.

Download a PDF of the statement here.

Prime Minister Perry Christie has announced that there will be no tax increases in this budget. However, the government will seek to introduce VAT next year and will seek to borrow around $100 million.
…continue >

The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited today announced that Ron Schmalcel, who is currently Vice President and Head of Corporate Trust at Butterfield Trust [Bermuda] Limited [a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank], will relocate to Butterfield’s Nassau, Bahamas office to take on the senior Group role of Vice President of Marketing & Product/Service Development for Corporate Trust services.

In this capacity, Mr. Schmalcel will be responsible for service delivery to existing institutional clients and the development of new Corporate Trust and related business opportunities, promoting the multijurisdictional capabilities of the Butterfield Group. He will work closely with the Corporate Trust specialists in utterfield Trust’s Bermuda, Bahamas, Cayman, and Guernsey offices.

…continue with our excerpt >

This is an excerpt from Bernews.com as it appeared on February 26, 2013. For updates or to read the current version of this post in its entirety, please click here.

Go to the source of this post >

Prime Minister Perry Christie has said that the government is committed to marketing the Baha Mar resort, tapping new markets and allocating funding. Watch ZNS news report here.
…continue >

The Bahamas offers investors a myriad of opportunities and is a stable jurisdiction with a long history of financial expertise, according to former chief executive officer of the Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) Wendy Warren.

Warren, managing director of financial services group Caystone Solutions, made the comments at the Bahamas International Investment & Business Forum (BIIBF) held in Freeport last week. She said the country performed well in the three major categories that investors consider–location, infrastructure and history–and said this helped the country attract business even in recessionary periods.

“The Bahamas dominates in the areas that are criticially important,” she said. “It is a compelling place to do business. Today’s environment is dominated by uncertainty. In order to survive we have to be among the best.”

…continue >

On Friday, February 22 at 08:18:10 CET, MAPFRE crossed the finish line in San Salvador, Bahamas. On board the rebranded Telefónica Volvo Open 70, the Spanish crew, including Pablo Arrarte, Ñeti Cuevas-Mons, Pepe Ribes and former Media Crew Member Diego Fructuoso, celebrated taking their place in the record books.

This is an excerpt from Volvo Ocean Racing as it appeared on February 25, 2013. For updates or to read the current version of this post in its entirety, please click here.

Go to the source of this post >

The Baha Mar mega-resort on Cable Beach in Nassau held a ceremony last week to celebrate the reaching the halfway mark in construction. Watch a ZNS news report of the event here.
…continue >