The government has given The Bahamas Development Bank (BDB) three years to get its financial housing in order.

Within that time frame Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest said the government intends to pull the plug on the $3million dollars it gives in support to the BDB’s bond interests.

“We want to make sure that we have in place the controls, that we have in place the right management and structure to ensure that the institution removes itself as another burden upon the public purse,” he said.

As for the bank’s delinquent loans, The Deputy Prime Minister is encouraging those persons with outstanding payments to make arrangements as soon as possible.

“We have no interest again in forcing businesses out of business or taking away businesses, but we have an obligation to the wider Bahamian people to ensure that The Bahamas Development Bank fulfills its mandate,” he said.

As for what’s happening with the bank of The Bahamas, the minister deemed it a “halfhearted rescue” package. He says the government is getting a grip on the loans.

“As you are aware, we would have transferred a lot of the old non reforming loans from The Bank of the Bahamas to The Bahamas Resolve in a second transaction,” he said.

“A lot of those loans should have been included in the first rescue package, because having kept them on the books of The Bank of the Bahamas and having had them continue to be non-performing, dragged down all of the credential ratios of the bank and really put it in a very untenable positon.”