NASSAU, BAHAMAS: Opposition Leader Michael Pintard has accused the Davis administration of operating hundreds of millions of dollars outside the National Investment Fund’s legally mandated governance structure, demanding a full accounting of $700 million in “excess borrowing” that the government previously said was transferred to the fund.
“The government has been, not misleading, lying to the public,” Pintard charged.
His comments follow correspondence from Central Bank Governor John Rolle confirming that the NIF’s Board of Governors has never formally convened, despite an account bearing the fund’s name being maintained at the Central Bank.
Finance Minister Michael Halkitis told Parliament in May that $700 million in excess borrowing had been transferred to the NIF. However, Pintard argued that the absence of an operational board raises questions about whether the fund could have legally established an account, received money or authorised transactions.
“The National Investment Fund, as the government describes it, really does not exist. It’s not operating. There is an account at Central Bank that has the name National Investment Fund,” Pintard said.
“But it is not at all. The National Investment Fund slash Sovereign Wealth Fund, as you and I know it, and as the law defines it.”
The National Investment Fund Act 2022 provides for the fund’s Board of Governors to open bank accounts with recognised financial institutions recommended by the Central Bank and approved by the board.
However, Rolle advised Pintard in a September 10 letter that the board has never been formally called to conduct business.
“I can advise that my instrument of appointment to the Board of Governors of the NIF was dated the 7th of August 2025, for a period of three years, with effect from 30th June, 2025. Subsequently, the Board of Governors has not been formally convened in respect of any matter,” Rolle wrote.
In earlier correspondence dated August 18, the governor said: “Aside from this, there has been no interacton between the NIF and the Central Bank.”
Rolle nevertheless confirmed that an account bearing the fund’s name exists.
“… the Central Bank maintains an account in the name of the ‘National Investment Fund,’ on which transactions commenced in July 2025. However, the particulars of those transactons would need to be disclosed by the Ministry of Finance,” he stated.
Pintard argued that without a functioning board, the fund could not legally authorise the establishment of an account or the movement of money.
“The government has never called a meeting of that board. The board is not operating. Since the board is not operating, they could not open a bank account for the National Investment Fund,” he said.
“They could not authorize the transfer of funds into the National Investment Fund and regularly authorize the movement of funds out for any purposes. The truth is the government has been, not misleading, lying to the public. They lied when they said they transferred $700 million to the National Investment Fund.”
Pintard further contended that although Parliament authorised the government to borrow the money, it did not necessarily approve its transfer to the NIF.
“They couldn’t have done that because the fund is not operational. It has no board. Furthermore, Parliament never approved for such funds to be transferred,” he said.
“They approved for funds to be borrowed, but that provision that allowed them to borrow did not give them the authority to transfer the funds. So they’ve been lying. And the question is, what have they done with the money?”
According to the government’s financial reports, the NIF held a balance of $265.3 million in December 2025. By the end of March 2026, that balance had fallen to $200,000.
Office of the Prime Minister Director of Communications Latrae Rahming previously said the money was moved to support the government’s Family Island airport infrastructure programme.
However, the opposition maintains that the Ministry of Finance could not lawfully exercise powers assigned to the NIF board under the legislation.
“The truth is it’s Ministry of Finance that has been determining the movement of funds,” Pintard said.
“But the law says it is not Ministry of Finance responsibility. It is the National Investment Board’s responsibility. And so the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, they have to come clean.”
The FNM has characterised the Central Bank account as a Ministry of Finance-controlled account operating outside the NIF’s formal governance structure. The Central Bank’s correspondence does not state that the account was illegally created or that any money was misappropriated.
Pintard nevertheless challenged Prime Minister Philip Davis and the minister of finance to disclose who authorised the transactions, where the money went and the legal framework under which the account has been operated.
“In an election year where most of this transaction has been going on, they have to come clean in terms of what did they do with $700 million. Are we expecting that the law will be enforced? And we challenge the Prime Minister and we challenge the Minister of Finance to be open and honest about this incredible amount of money. They’ve misrepresented how it has been used,” he said.
Senator Latrae Rahming, Director of Communications in the Office of the Prime Minister said the government will address the matter in Parliament when it resumes on Wednesday.
