NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas was yesterday urged to look at investments in the renewables sector and build resilience, with a well-known Caribbean economist citing it as a “tremendous opportunity” for this nation.
Marla Dukharan, while addressing a Citadel Consultants virtual summit said that in terms of economic diversification, the government should not be leading the charge.
“The government is the last entity to know what are the needs in the economy,” she said.
“It’s the private sector that knows. What the government needs to do is to create an enabling environment, have good governance, ease of doing business and make sure this functions properly.
“Basically, you prepare the road for the private sector to drive on. As I look at the private sector in The Bahamas and where they are taking the diversification effort, the digital space is one the people of The Bahamas are interested in,” said Dukharan.
According to Dukharan, there is tremendous opportunity for The Bahamas to invest in renewables and build resilience.
“I think that every country in the region should be taking the opportunity to spend and do more in that space of renewables, sustainability and resilience.”
Dukharan in her recently released Caribbean economic report noted that the country’s economic output will expand by 5 percent this year and a further 4 percent in 2023.
“We expect the economy to grow five percent in 2022 and four percent in 2023, backed by reconstruction and continued tourism recovery, leaving the level of economic activity around seven percent below its 2019 level. The IMF forecasts six percent growth for 2022, 4.1 percent for 2023, averaging 1.5 percent to 2027,” she said.
