NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Economic Affairs Minister Michael Halkitis said yesterday that “steady progress” is being made on the issuance of business licenses, with just over 13,000 having been approved and issued to date.
During a weekly press briefing of the Office of The Prime Minister, Halkitis noted that last week the number of business licenses issued increased from 3,000 to 10,000.
According to Halkitis 13,468, business licenses have now been issued, with another 5,597 having been approved and awaiting payment.
He said 19,065 licenses have been approved so far.
Halkitis noted that there are some 9,859 cases where some additional information has been requested.
As of Wednesday, he said 8,166 applications were under review, with 651 applications having been rejected.
Halkitis noted that the government has fast-tracked the processing of applications in a number of categories, with additional staff working at the Department of Inland Revenue to assist with the heavy application volume.
“The way forward for business is to be keeping your records of revenue and expenditure,” he said.
“We should not look at it as the department imposing measures on people but just a sort of reinforcement of what good business practices are whether it’s small, medium, start-ups or large businesses.”
Halkitis previously advised that all business license applications would be processed by March 31.
