BY CLEMIA NEELY
Journal Staff Writer

During his contribution to the Senate Budget Debate, Hon. Ryan Pinder said that
the former Free National Movement Administration weakened the economy even
before Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19 took place in 2019/2020. He went on to say
that their response to those crises made matters even worse than they had to be and
created a further economic crisis in the country.
He stated, “When we came to office, the fiscal situation was bleak. There was a
deficit of 13.1% of GDP. That is an astronomical deficit that reflected the true
financial situation of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas in 2021. In under four
years, we are now projecting a budget surplus for 2025-2026.”
He stated that between 2019 and 2020, movements in real GDP were negative.
Meaning, for those two years, the economy was shrinking. But since the
Progressive Liberal Party Administration took office in 2021, they have turned the
tide, focusing on recovery and economic growth of the Bahamas.
“Growth rebounded to 3.4% in 2024. Unemployment levels are at lows that we
haven’t seen in decades. Tourism is up, but it’s not just up, it’s thriving. We have
now surpassed pre-COVID levels, welcoming more visitors than ever before.
Inflation has come under control. After peaking at over 5.6% in 2022 because of
external influences, inflation has now fallen to under 1% by the end of 2024 and
continues a trend downward. This is attributed, in considerable part, to the pointed
cost management programs by the Brave Davis-led PLP Administration,” he said.
“When the FNM increased VAT over 60% to 12%, after they campaigned against
the imposition of VAT at all, we saw an economic slowdown. The burden on
business was just too much. In January 2022 we reduced VAT from 12% to 10%.
We followed that up in May 2022, with a series of tax decreases in the 2022/2023
budget.”
“We eliminated customs duties on 49 food categories, and at the same time reduced
duty on 7 additional food categories. We have recently reduced VAT on unprepared
food to 5%. We saw a corresponding increase in the economic growth of The
Bahamas. This is no fluke, relieving the tax burden on business and the consumers
had a direct result on the growth of our economy. The PLP tax strategy showed
demonstrable results, the FNM strategy caused economic stagnation.”

Their economic growth has been a result in part of their fiscal tax policy. Senator
Pinder commended Senator Barry Griffin for his strategies in trade to reduce the
inflation in the commonwealth of the Bahamas.