NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Opposition Leader Michael Pintard is demanding that the government return $265 million in borrowed funds to the Consolidated Fund, arguing that the Davis administration moved the money into the National Investment Fund without proper parliamentary approval.
In a statement Monday, Pintard said the explanation offered by Prime Minister Philip Davis that the transfer was authorized through a borrowing resolution “is not good enough because it is wrong,” insisting that Parliament must explicitly approve how borrowed funds are spent.
“The simple truth is that a borrowing resolution gives the Government permission to take on debt. It does not give the Government permission to spend or transfer that money,” Pintard said. “Those are two different things, and the law treats them as two different things.”
The controversy centers on $265 million in proceeds from last year’s $1.067 billion international bond issue. While the majority of the funds were used to refinance existing debt, the administration placed roughly $265 million into the National Investment Fund, which its says will support strategic national development and infrastructure projects.
However, the opposition argues that because the money comes from borrowing, it must first be deposited in the Consolidated Fund and then authorized by Parliament through the national budget or a supplementary appropriations bill before it can be spent.
Pintard said both the Constitution and the Public Finance Management Act require parliamentary authorization before public funds can be used, while the Public Debt Management Act requires borrowed money to be placed in the Consolidated Fund before it is spent.
“The Government sidestepped the law,” Pintard said, arguing that debt taken on in the name of the Bahamian public was transferred to the investment fund without the constitutionally required approval.
The opposition is now pressing the government for answers to several questions, including where in the national budget the $265 million has been appropriated by Parliament, whether the transfer undermines the government’s claim that it is on track to achieve a fiscal surplus, and who controls the National Investment Fund.
“How could hundreds of millions of dollars of the people’s money be transferred to a fund when the people have not been told who has been appointed to manage these funds?” Pintard asked.
The Davis administration has defended the move as part of a broader fiscal and investment strategy, arguing that the funds are not intended to finance government deficits but to be placed into the National Investment Fund to support long-term national development initiatives.
The National Investment Fund was established as an investment vehicle intended to mobilize capital for infrastructure, economic development and potential partnerships with private investors.
Pintard said the proper course of action is for the government to return the funds to the Consolidated Fund and bring a formal appropriations bill to Parliament for approval.
“Put the money back into the Consolidated Fund, bring a proper Appropriations Bill to Parliament, and let the people’s representatives vote on it,” he said. “That is how the law and democracy works.”
