NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The government does not anticipate any additional borrowing beyond the $1.3 billion this fiscal year, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance K Peter Turnquest.
Turnquest noted that government should receive around $500m in bridge financing from multilateral institutions as part of its $1.3 billion deficit funding strategy this week, with a bond offering scheduled for the Fall.
”We anticipate going out with a bond offering something in the Fall once the market conditions are favorable,” he said.
“We haven’t determined the size of that offering yet but we are working and finalizing those matters over the next couple of weeks in order to bring it into the market in the Fall.”
He noted that despite the fall-out from the COVID-19 pandemic, government is still on target with its fiscal projections having factored in fall off in tourism.
Turnquest said: “We had anticipated a slow period of economic activity. We did not initially anticipate the lockdowns but in our projections for the fiscal year we did anticipate limited activity so we are not too far off. I do not have the latest numbers but last time I check we are more or less we where we anticipated we would be at this point.
“We do not anticipate any additional borrowing beyond the $1.3 billion this year. In fact we are going to try our hardest to come in under that number, understanding that it is a significant liability for the Bahamian people going forward in the medium to long term. However, we do realize we have an obligation to meet our commitments and provide assistance to those who need it.”
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