NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Central Bank Governor John Rolle yesterday reassured that the country has adequate foreign reserves, noting that this nation has the tools to manage the reserves if more challenges arise.
Deputy Prime Minister K Peter Turnquest expressed confidence the government will be able to meet foreign exchange requirements during a Ministry of Finance press conference on Thursday.
“As a government we do not anticipate any difficulties in being able to meet our foreign exchange requirements,” Turnquest said.
“To the extent, our tourism market remains closed, our access to foreign currency is impacted, and we have to be careful and pay attention to level of expenditure. We at the Ministry of Finance have some tools we can deploy in the event we foreshadow that we are running into any challenges.”
Rolle said: “The foreign reserves are adequate. We will use more this year than in an ordinary year. We also began this year with higher inflow levels than in the past.”
“We are sure that The Bahamas has the tools to manage if things become more challenging.”
The Central Bank in its monthly economic report noted that the Bahamas’ key foreign currency reserves were at $1.972 billion at the end of May.
The reserves are critical to funding imports and securing the one:one peg with the US dollar.
