Banish regulatory ‘handcuffs’ so that Freeport can thrive
• Hayward urges return to Hawksbill Creek roots
• Says ending red tape will have ‘snowball effect’
• Billy Cay set to be included in new cruise port
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
FREEPORT must go back to its Hawksbill Creek Agreement roots and banish the red tape and regulatory “handcuffs” if it is to compete with multi-billion free trade zone rivals, a GBPA director asserted yesterday.
Rupert Hayward, also a member of the Grand Bahama Port Authority’s two family owners, told the island’s Business Outlook that the original intent of Freeport’s founding treaty must be revived after being “diluted” and “watered down” by policy “guardrails” such as Immigration policy.
Pointing to competition that has long surpassed Freeport’s output and economic impact, he cited Dubai’s Jafza special economic zone as an example “of what we are missing out on” with its $169bn in annual trade value in 2023 generated by playing host to 10,700 companies from 100 countries.
And, closer to home, Mr Hayward noted the $130m in trade value generated every year by Cayman Enterprise City, which enjoys 100 percent exemptions on corporate, income, VAT and capital gains taxes plus import duties, and is where businesses can become operational within four to six days aided by renewable five-year work permits and residency visas for staff that are issued within five working days of application.
“That’s the competition, ladies and gentlemen, and that’s what we’re up against,” the GBPA director warned. “Under the strict application of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, as it was envisaged in 1955, Freeport would offer a very similar suite of incentives. As we all know, though, the reality today is very different.
“Despite many of the unique benefits that Freeport has to offer, we have fallen behind in this race precisely because the provisions
‘Disaster’: Govt’s four-month deficit higher than year’s goal
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE Opposition last night slammed the Government’s “disastrous” fiscal performance after it emerged that the $274m deficit for 20242025’s first four months is almost four times higher than the full-year target.
Kwasi Thompson, the Free National Movement’s (FNM) finance spokesman, demanded that the Davis administration present a corrective action plan to “dig us out of this fiscal hole” when it unveils the mid-year Budget in less then a fortnight after it was revealed that the deficit for the four months to endOctober 2024 was equivalent to 392.7 percent of the $69.8m full-year target.
The Ministry of Finance, in its October fiscal report, revealed that the month’s deficit - which measures by how much government spending exceeds its revenue incomehad expanded by 43.6 percent
• October’s $274m deficit near four times’ 12-month target
• Opposition demands plan to ‘dig us out of this fiscal hole’
• Budget ‘red ink’ more than doubles against prior year’s
or almost $37m year-overyear, widening from $61.7m to $88.6m.
The increase, which moved the deficit in the opposite direction to the Government’s desired fiscal consolidation trajectory, was driven entirely by increased spending as tax and other revenues posted a modest $7.8m year-over-year increase to $256m for October 2024. Total expenditure, though, surged by $34.8m or an 11.2 percent increase, to hit $344.5m.
When added to the ‘red ink’ incurred for the first
three months of 2024-2025, which represented the year’s first quarter, October took the combined deficit for the first one-third of the fiscal year to $274m - a sum more than double, or 129 percent, higher than the $119.7m run-up during the same period in 2023-2024.
And 2024-2025’s deficit for the first four months is also higher than the $258.7m incurred during the first six months of the prior 20232024 fiscal year. Should the Government have endured a repeat of the $69.6m and
$65.9m deficits incurred in November and December 2023, respectively, this time around, the combined $135.5m would take the 20242025 mid-year deficit to a mammoth $409.5m. Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, could not be reached for comment before press time last night, but the Government will likely counter that the Budget’s cyclical nature makes it
Doctors Hospital unveils healthcare finance entry
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
DOCTORS Hospital yesterday revealed plans to “directly insert” itself into financing affordable healthcare by late summer 2025 with “insurance-like pricing” up to 50 percent less than existing coverages.
Dennis Deveaux, the BISX-listed healthcare provider’s chief financial officer, told the Grand Bahama Business Outlook that it aims to make access to quality medical treatment less costly and more accessible in a climate where companies are enduring premium increases of between 9 percent to even 25 percent to maintain group coverage for employees.
To achieve the promised savings, and keep healthcare costs down, he said Doctors Hospital will focus on “wellness” initiatives designed to keep insured patients from needing higher-priced tertiary care in hospitals. And it is also aiming to remove potential barriers and deterrents to accessing primary care by eliminating the “fee for service” reimbursement method
for physicians, thus controlling patient co-payments and deductibles. Revealing that Doctors Hospital plans to “directly insert ourselves into the healthcare financing landscape” by the time construction on its new Grand Bahama hospital is completed in late summer 2025, Mr Deveaux explained: “We’re
GB Chamber president rejects abolishing GBPA
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
CALLS to abolish the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) were yesterday rejected by a senior private sector executive who urged sceptics to “accept” it will exist for at least another 29 years.
James Carey, the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce’s president, in leading off the island’s Business Outlook conference also urged the business community not to be “distracted” by the Government’s $357m claim against Freeport’s quasi-governmental authority although he conceded this was the likely effect of the two sides’ dispute and ongoing arbitration proceedings. And, pushing back against calls for the GBPA to be “done away with”, he argued that its current owners - the Hayward and St George families - should
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business
jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
SEE PAGE B4
said she and others operating in the Port Lucaya Marketplace were denied the opportunity to obtain a spot in Carnival’s new cruise port as the mega cruise line preferred to
work with vendors “outside of Grand Bahama”.
She said many local vendors have not been given an opportunity to participate in the project and questioned why it was being flaunted as one that would boost local businesses.
Mrs Moxey said government officials have encouraged cruise lines to provide opportunities for local businesses but it is ultimately Carnival’s decision on which businesses they choose to partner with.
“I’ve been an advocate for Grand Bahama businesses, and so we’ve had many discussions with cruise lines on the same topic. But again, it is
KWASI THOMPSON
JAMES CAREY
Addressing emotional ill-health among staff
Every workplace has one employee who shows signs that the pressures of life have begun to adversely impact their decisionmaking, work performance and behaviours. While it is true that life comes at us all, it is also true that we all handle its vicissitudes differently. Emotionally unwell employees need to be understood and offered support. Knee jerk judgments, and making assumptions, is not helpful in the process.
Here are a few signs of emotional ill-health:
* Changes in mood: Feeling anxious, irritable or frustrated
* Changes in behaviour: Withdrawing, avoiding
social activities or becoming aggressive
* Changes in performance: Being less productive, or more productive in an unhealthy way
* Changes in sleep or eating habits: Sleeping poorly, or having obsessive thoughts about food or exercise
* Substance misuse: Drinking more alcohol or taking illegal drugs
* Physical changes: Appearing tired, or having a noticeable change in appearance
Our focus in this week’s column is directed towards providing ongoing support to employees with challenges. Here are some basic tips for helping them find
the path to emotional wellness and productivity:
* Be clear with expectations and consequences: Give clear directions, document disruptive behaviors, and monitor progress.
* Be empathetic: Listen actively to the employee’s concerns, show genuine care, and be open to feedback.
* Be timely in dealing with issues as they arise and choose the right time to deliver feedback
Encourage open communication: Encourage the employee to respond, foster dialogue and ask for a summary and input. Consider the employee’s perspective: Try to understand their side, consider your own actions, and be
open to the employee’s perspective. Provide feedback: Be positive when it is deserved, and offer corrective feedback when necessary. Explain what they need to do differently in the future
Provide support external: Offer counselling and therapy options, and mental health days
Promote physical health: Encourage employees to exercise, eat well and get enough sleep
Be understanding: Let employees share as much or as little as they want to
Be confidential: Ensure that support services are confidential and accessible
Have a strategy: Have a plan in place to support
‘Agreements made’ for Royal Oasis and International Bazaar purchases
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter
jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
MINISTER for Grand
Bahama Ginger Moxey said purchase agreements have been made to acquire the International Bazaar site and the Royal Oasis property to create an African-Caribbean products marketplace at that location.
Speaking at the Grand Bahama Business Outlook yesterday, Mrs Moxey said acquiring the properties is an essential part of the project but there has been a “slight delay” over funds owed to the Grand Bahama Port Authority by previous owners.
“The acquisition of the International Bazaar and Royal Oasis Tower and Casino properties, as well as the reopening of the West Sunrise Highway is central to this development, and is
currently in progress,” said Mrs Moxey.
“Purchase agreements have been made with both the bizarre owners and Harcourt Development, and we are ready to go. Our friends at the Grand Bahama Port Authority have indicated that there are long outstanding receivables of the previous owners that must be settled, which has caused a slight delay. This acquisition has been budgeted for in the 2024/2025 budget of the government, and we are hopeful that we can move forward as quickly as possible for this game changing development for our island.”
Prime Minster Philip Davis KC revealed in unveiling the 2024-2025 Budget that the Government is aiming to acquire the International Bazaar site, along with the Royal Oasis property that is owned by Harcourt Developments, as part of a $30m investment in
Bahamian firms warned on cyber security threat
the African-Caribbean marketplace.
Some financing for the project was secured at last year’s African ExportImport Bank conference held in Nassau, while $1m was allocated in the 20242025 Budget to both the purchase of the similarlyderelict Royal Oasis and West Sunrise Highway.
Mrs Moxey also revealed an incubation centre will be placed on the site of the Royal Palm Resort and will house representatives from several government agencies that will assist entrepreneurs.
“Incubators will be established in New Providence, Grand Bahama and Exuma to just start, and I am delighted to say that Royal Palm Resort on the Mall Drive, Freeport will soon be home to innovate 242 incubator on our island,” said Mrs Moxey.
“The Grand Bahama incubator will serve as a creative business centre to
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
THE importance of cybersecurity for sustainable growth and trust in the digital economy was emphasised yesterday by
cater to entrepreneurs as a one Stop Shop for business development from concept to launch, spearheaded by the Tourism Development Corporation, in collaboration with the Ministry for Grand Bahama it will include representation from organisations like Bahamas Development Bank, Small Business Development Centre (SBDC), Inland Revenue, Bahamas Invest and representatives from other stakeholders to provide entrepreneurs with easy access to the resources needed to start their businesses.”
She also addressed the “big elephant in the room” and gave an update on the sale of the Grand Lucayan resort and Grand Bahama International Airport renovations.
Highlighting that sale negotations are “sensitive” and details cannot be disclosed, Mrs Moxey said she is “satisfied that steady progress is being made”
Shakera Johnson, director of information security at Cable Bahamas Group of Companies.
Speaking at the Grand Bahama Business Outlook yesterday, she said the Bahamas’ 2024 Global Cybersecurity Index scores ranged from 3.22 to 7.97 out
employees with mental health issues
Have a duty of care: If someone is in immediate danger, call emergency services
• NB: Ian R Ferguson is a talent management and organisational development consultant, having completed graduate studies with regional and international universities. He has served organisations, both locally and globally, providing relevant solutions to their business growth and development issues. He may be contacted at tcconsultants@ coralwave.com.
and the Davis administration is committed to finding a developer that embraces the culture of Grand Bahama and the input of key stakeholder is being considered.
“Please appreciate that, as negotiations are often sensitive, and I think we learned our lesson, I will not say a great deal on this, except to repeat with the Honourable Prime Minister has said week before last, at an event at this place: ‘getting it right is important’,” said Mrs Moxey.
“I can say that our desire is for a developer committed to embracing the culture of Grand Bahama while creating a world class brand that enhances the tourism product of this island. We are careful to seek out someone who has the vision, the heart and the ability to create something spectacular for us all.
“The store owners and vendors in the Port Lucayan Marketplace are key stakeholders in this transformation, and we’ve heard them all. We want ensure that development plans include enhancing the opportunities of the neighbouring businesses.”
of 20, with legal measures being the highest at 11.26 and urged businesses to invest in cybersecurity
“The 2024 report evaluated 194 countries, and this was a record number of countries for this particular assessment. The Bahamas scored in each of the pillars, respectively, and these scores are out of 20, in legal measures, we scored 11.26 out of 20, which was our highest of the scores, technical measures, we scored 3.22, organisational measures, we scored 5.47 capacity development, 6.08 and cooperation, 7.97,” said Ms Johnson.
She advised firms to conduct cyber security assessments to understand their vulnerabilities and noted all business should ensure they have strong passwords as they are the first line of defence against cyber-attacks.
“The first step to improving cyber security is understanding where you are vulnerable. A security assessment like penetration testing, vulnerability scans on a regular basis would help you to understand and proactively address risks in your environment,” said Ms Johnson.
“Over 80 percent of breaches involve stolen or leaked passwords. Enforcing strong password policies reduces the risk significantly.”
Ms Johnson also noted that all data should be backed up on a secure network and employees should only be given access to information they need to perform their duties to minimise the risk of intentional or unwittingly encountering data breaches and employees should be adequately trained to recognise cyber-attacks.
“Employee security awareness training is another simple but very important strategy that you can implement to strengthen your cyber security posture. Technology alone cannot stop cyberattacks. Your employees are your first line of defence,” said Ms Johnson.
She said the Grand Lucayan currently has a “steady” occupancy level and advised that designs for the airport are currently being finalised and once the build construction goes vertical it will be completed in 18 months.
“In the meantime, the hotel continues to employ more than 200 Bahamians, is running a steady occupancy level and continues to be the hub for events and entertainment, indicative of the significance of the resort to our vision for Grand Bahama,” said Mrs Moxey.
“We are mindful that the new airport will fully meet the needs of the expanded resort footprint and meet the needs of the many resorts to come. When completed, we expect there to be a new domestic terminal, new international terminal, as well as at least one FBO for private jet passengers. Designs are being adjusted to suit changing needs, and I’m advised that once the design build construction goes vertical, the development will be completed in 18 months.”
“If you do not know how to recognise phishing scams, if they do not know how to recognise social engineering scams or even malware threats, they might unknowingly bust open the door for attackers.”
She suggested that all firms establish a formal cyber incident response plan and practice it regularly so leadership and employees are prepared when a cyber attack occurs.
“This will establish the roles and responsibilities, it will establish the steps that needs to be taken in the event of a cyber-attack, and those responses can vary based on the type of attack,” said Ms Johnson.
“A phishing attack requires this amount of steps. A ransomware requires this amount of steps and effort. A breach from an employee requires different steps. Please ask for your IT teams or your leadership to establish a cyber incident response plan. The same way we do drills for fires, we should be doing drills for cyber incidents because they are inevitable.”
Ms Johnson said cyber security is a necessity in today’s technology advanced business landscape and the firms and economies that will become leaders of this new era must prioritise cyber security.
“Cyber security is not about technology, it’s about resilience, trust and longterm success. It’s about ensuring that your businesses grow and that they do so securely, inclusively and sustainably. We cannot achieve inclusive and sustainable growth if cyber security continues to disrupt economies, widen the digital divide and erode consumer trust,” said Ms Johnson.
“A business, no matter how innovative, cannot thrive in an environment where cyber-attacks cripple your organisations, data breaches destroy reputations and regulatory failures result in massive fines. The companies, industries and economies that will lead in the future are those that prioritise cyber security as a foundation for sustainable progress. Cyber security is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity.”
US chargé d’affairs warns of ‘malign’ Chinese influence
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter
KIMBERLY Furnish yesterday called for the Bahamas to begin “reducing Chinese influence” and work with regional partners to ensure “mutual economic growth”.
Speaking at the Grand Bahama Business Outlook, Ms Furnish said US President Trump’s foreign policy agenda “begins close to home” and the “malign influence” of China on its neighbours is a challenge.
“To ensure our mutual economic growth it’s also imperative that we address the challenges that threaten our shared values and interests. At the forefront of our regional challenges is the malign influence of US adversaries,” said Mrs Furnish.
“However, as our regional partners build capacity, they can more easily resist countries like China. China promises much but delivers little. Making America Great also means helping our neighbours, like the Bahamas, achieve greatness. To achieve this greatness, working with trustworthy partners to improve infrastructure, ports and transportation networks.”
She added that as Grand Bahama is expected to see over 6m visitors by 2027 due to new developments there will need to be “significant investment and strategic partnerships” and she is hopeful the US remains our “partner of choice”.
“The importance of trusted networks is made even more critical given local projections of over 6m visitors to Grand Bahama by 2027 this ten-fold increase requires a significant investment and strategic partnerships, and we hope to remain your partner of choice in these initiatives,” said Mrs Furnish.
She also encouraged partnerships with US companies to advance technical innovation in the country and
reduce the “reliance on distant sources”.
Ms Furnish said relocating critical supply chains to the Western Hemisphere will create more opportunities and economic activity in the region.
“All of the innovations that will drive the economic advancement of this century will be rooted in telecommunications and technology as we aim to enhance economic security. Relocating critical supply chains for these innovations to the Western Hemisphere will lessen our reliance on distant sources and pave the way for regional economic growth,” said Mrs Furnish.
“The Bahamas can lead the way in the Caribbean by investing in 5G and smart technologies. These advancements will not only lower operational costs, but they’ll also attract high tech industries and create new opportunities right here in Grand Bahama these efforts can accelerate Grand Bahama’s Innovate 242 objectives, and assist in making this incredible island a regional tech hub, as it very well should be. The US embassy and the American private sector stand ready to partner with the Bahamas as it looks towards new technology and potential smart city infrastructure.”
She highlighted that as neighbours, working together will be mutually beneficial and drive economic growth in the region.
“A stable and prosperous Western Hemisphere advances our shared priorities, expanding our economies. Engaging with our neighbours like you here in the Bahamas is vital to fixing vulnerabilities in supply chains and driving strong economic growth,” said Mrs Furnish.
“Strengthening alliances with democratic and likeminded partners enables the United States to build a more prosperous Western Hemisphere. What we really need to remember is we share a common home. The more prosperous that that home becomes, the more both of our nations stand to benefit.”
‘We need fiscal reform’ in GB real estate market
By ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net
FISCAL policy reform is necessary for Grand Bahama’s real estate market and economy to succeed, according to the managing partner of Keys Bahamas Realty.
Broker Kiara Jones pointed to real property tax ID numbers, the VAT exemption process and the VAT transfer tax for nonBahamians as challenges plaguing the market. Ms Jones said ID numbers provided on conveyances are taking months to receive which leads to a rise in attorney fees.
“Real estate tax ID numbers, this is the newest thing within the last two years that we have to have,” Ms Jones said. “We didn’t have it before. There is no reason that to just get the tax ID number, meaning the number that they’re just going to put on the conveyance should take you a few months to get.
“This is affecting you guys in more than one way. The real property tax ID numbers, because that process is taking time along, we now have attorneys who are raising their fees because they’re stuck following up, following up, following up. You’ve had attorneys who’ve raised their minimums from $1,500 up to $2,500 because of the time and just honestly waste of time that it takes to just get this one number.”
She said the timeline to receive a VAT exemption as a first-time home buyer is also a prolonged process and banks are penalising the home buyers.
“Secondly, if we want to truly stir Bahamian home ownership, it should not take six months for a Bahamian first-time home buyer who is purchasing either a home, duplex or triplex months to get their VAT exemption which is their legal right as Bahamians,” Ms Jones said.
“There is no reason that a Bahamian who was born here, or however you got Bahamian and have the
right to get VAT exemption, there’s no reason that you should be penalised by the banks to have to put up the VAT exemption because you have to apply for VAT exemption. That’s a programme that you should have been born with the right to get.”
Ms Jones said the 10 percent VAT transfer tax imposed has caused foreigners to raise costs. She said a reduction is a must.
“A reduction of the VAT transfer tax for non-Bahamians, it is a necessity because what they are failing to realise, and I think what Bahamians fail to realise, the fact that foreigners are now being taxed at 10 percent is not only affecting the foreigner and raising their costs. You have to realise that the seller of the property to mitigate that now 10 percent, they’re raising the price. So they’re raising the price and it’s driving down the amount of sales because now it’s become more expensive for the same property to actually sell.”
Besides competition between second vacation home buyers, short-term vacation rentals, and Bahamian migration from other islands, Ms Jones noted that most Grand Bahmians currently entering the market are between the ages of 30 and 45 and are obtaining mortgages with pre-qualification amounts between $150,000 and $250,000. However, according to Ms Jones, Grand Bahama lacks a large quantity of properties within that price range adding “The time when you could have bought a house for 80,000 is gone.” To combat the problem, Ms Jones suggested the development or redevelopment of single-family homes under $250,000.
“If any builder right now were to just focus in this price point, they could probably retire by the end of the year, literally,” Ms Jones said.
“If someone were to come and either build new properties and keep it under this price point or purchase and renovate older properties, not only would they make
SECOND PHASE OF RENTAL GRANT SCHEME LAUNCHED
By ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net
THE second phase of the Home Sweet Home Vacation Rental Grants Programme - a partnership between the Tourism Development Corporation (TDC) and the Bahamas Development Bank - has been launched. With phase one launched in September, phase two is open for applications. The announcement was made yesterday at the Grand Bahama Business Outlook, by TDC’s director of operations and product development. Targeting applicants with single or
multi-family homes requiring less than $10,000 and single or multi-family homes requiring more than $10,000 in funding to enter the vacation rental market, Mr Gibson said phase two will see “an additional $600,000 in grants”.
“As also mentioned previously, one of the most significant shifts in global tourism has been the rise of short-term vacation rentals through platforms like Airbnb, VRBO, etc,” Mr Gibson said. “Today’s travellers seek authenticity and immersive experiences, and Grand Bahama is positioned to deliver just that. To help local homeowners tap into this lucrative market, we
launched the Home Sweet Home Vacation Rental Grants Programme. It was a $1.2m investment designed to empower Bahamians to enter the vacation rental industry.
“In phase one, last year that closed just in December, we paid out from the Tourism Development Corporation over $600,000 in grants to persons that were seeking to enhance, establish or refurbish short-term rental properties.”
Eligibility requires applicants to be Bahamian and own property or receive permission to develop from the owner of a property which must be based on any of the 16 major islands. Applicants must also attend
a killing, but they would do what we’ve needed to happen within the last 15 years. We need new properties to be developed. You’re not reinventing the wheel. You can go to Building and Development and ask for plans. They’re there.”
Ms Jones also suggested providing financing for nontraditional buyers adding that it is a needed and “untapped” market that brokers would love to partner on. She also noted that they would experience faster transactions with quicker turnaround times.
“You have a large portion of persons as well who are like me,” Ms Jones said. “I work on commission, also I’m self-employed. Banks don’t like me, to be quite frank. They don’t like me at all. Also surprisingly, banks don’t like other bankers. They make it very difficult for them to purchase. So when we look at a need that needs to be satisfied in the market and it’s completely untapped and untouched in Grand Bahama, surprisingly, providing financing, you will have someone again like me, like your hair stylist, like your contractor, your plumber, electrician.
“If you give them the option of finding houses and saying, ‘hey, you have the option to put up that same deposit,’ and a lot of us will put it up non-refundable, they’re never going to miss that payment. I’ve personally done owner financing. I was not missing a payment. You can even incentivise them more and say, ‘Hey,
we’ll take a portion of the cost off if you pay it quicker.’ So I was in an owner finance deal that I had five years to pay it off and I made a deal with the owner. I said, ‘Hey, if I pay this off within three years, can you take off like $10,000 or something?’ And they didn’t expect it until I sent that last payment and I said, ‘Okay, we’re done.’” “...Private financing or financing for non-traditional buyers, [it’s] a huge thing. People used to call it rent-toown. It’s the same idea. It’s much, much better though, and very much legal.”
Another option included residential and commercial rental properties.
“Everybody wants to say, ‘Oh I want a high-end rental. I want to do this, I want to do that.’ But we need to again focus on Grand Bahamians. Yes, you can get Carnival to rent out your place. Yes, you can get someone from GB shipyard. However, you have to remember the people that you went to high school with, they’re not wanting to pay $1,500 for a one-bedroom. We want to pay $850 for a one-bedroom or less, two bedrooms under a thousand, $1,300. These are your sweet spots here because these are your tenants that will never leave you. They’re on average staying for about seven years or so and they are happy. They’re not moving until they move into their own place. They’re not going anywhere and they pay on time.”
half-day training sessions hosted by the TDC as well as submit receipts “as proof
‘Disaster’: Govt’s four-month deficit higher than year’s goal
impossible to predict the full-year outcome until all the numbers are in.
This is because the Government typically earns the bulk of its income during the revenue-rich second half of the fiscal year, which is the period The Bahamas is now in. This coincides with peak winter tourism and economic activity, as well as the payment of Business Licence fees, the bulk of real property taxes, commercial vehicle licensing and increased cruise ship passenger fees.
However, the Government will likely need to generate a much bigger surplus than the collective $72m it generated during the 2023-2024 fiscal year’s second half to bring this year’s deficit back into line with target - especially since it is targeting a much smaller sum of $69.8m compared to the prior year’s $131.1m goal which was itself missed by around $55m.
And Mr Thompson seized on the data to blast: “This first four months of the Davis administration’s 20242025 fiscal year has been a disastrous first four months. We are anxiously awaiting the mid-year Budget. This fiscal performance for the
first four months really has been a disaster..
“You have the full-year Budget deficit, which is [projected to be] about $69.8m for the full-year, and we are just about four times’ what the deficit is for the entire year, which means the Government is in a hole. We are waiting to see what fiscal plans the Government has to dig us out of this fiscal hole.”
Mr Thompson, though, brushed aside Tribune Business questions over how likely the Government is to reverse these trends during the fiscal year’s second half, as it has at least partially done in years past, and whether is is premature to base the full-year outcome on the first four months. He also declined to comment on the timing of the October figures’ release, and why they have been divulged now.
“When it comes out, how it comes out, it does not affect what Bahamians were feeling yesterday, what they are feeling today, and what they are going to feel tomorrow. The main message we must never forget is that Bahamians are catching hell and we should expect the Government to be managing our fiscal affairs to get out of this hole. They are not,” the Opposition finance spokesman argued.
“Bahamians are catching hell and the Government’s performance does not help them at all. I believe I’m being kind to them [the Davis administration]. The first four months of this fiscal year really have been a disaster compared to their performance in previous years. Also, when you look at the overall deficit projection for the entire year, we hope they have a plan to bring us back into line with the Budget.
“We are hoping they come to Parliament in the midyear Budget with a plan that puts us back in track. At the moment we are in a hole.”
Mr Thompson added that the cost of living crisis faced by many Bahamian families is “not over”, based on the latest monthly inflation figures for the US for January, and he said: “I’m focused on the pain that Bahamians are feeling.”
It is unclear why the Government would choose to release the monthly fiscal report for October 2024 now given that the midyear Budget is due to be presented in the House of Assembly in less than two weeks’ time on the last Wednesday in February.
However, several observers last night suggested the timing could be designed to manage the Bahamian
people’s expectations and control the public relations narrative, softening the public up for potentially bad news in the mid-year Budget. “I think they’re trying to take some of the sting out of it and soften people up for bad news,” one said.
The expanding deficit is also ill-timed for the Government given that a general election has to be called within the next 19 months, as it would typically - in common with many of its predecessors - look to prime the spending pump around now to create a voting climate more favourable for its prospects.
However, on the positive side, total revenues for the four months to endOctober 2024 were ahead of prior year numbers. And October’s VAT collections, which represent September’s filings by all registrantsmonthly and quarterly filers - were up by $5.8m at $132.6. Total VAT collections were also keeping pace with the Budget target, standing at 31.2 percent of the full-year amount with one-third of the year gone.
However, the fact that October 2024’s increase in government spending was driven by a $27.2m yearover-year increase in outlays on goods and services is
GB CHAMBER PRESIDENT REJECTS ABOLISHING GBPA
FROM PAGE B1
be allowed to decide for themselves whether they wish to exit rather than forced to sell their interests given that the Hawksbill Creek Agreement which led to Freeport’s founding does not expire until 2054.
Speaking later at the same conference, Rupert Hayward, a GBPA principal and director, conceded that “we need to get the public messaging right” and counter the impression that the differences between the Government and Freeport’s quasi-governmental authority have deepened to outright conflict that is impeding the city’s growth and progress.
Mr Carey, in his opening address, conceded that “we are far from realising our potential” as he again repeated his call for the Government and GBPA to set aside their differences and work together for the common good of both Freeport and the wider Bahamas.
Acknowledging the Government’s demand that the GBPA reimburse it for spending incurred in the Port area over and above the tax revenues generated by the latter, the GB Chamber chief asserted: “We shouldn’t be distracted by the Government’s claim on the Port Authority for in excess of $357m and the arbitration associated thereto.
“Most certainly this should not be an inhibitor to development and progress, although it probably is. Notwithstanding the difficulties, it’s imperative a way be found by the Government and the Grand Bahama Port Authority to work together.... for the good of Grand Bahama.”
And, in a nod to calls for the GBPA to either be abolished, or relinquish its quasi-governmental powers back to the Government in Nassau, Mr Carey argued that critics should get used to the fact it will likely still be around for almost another three decades.
Asserting that the GBPA’s managers and owners are continuing to promote
Freeport to potential investors, he added: “There has been much talk in recent times that the GBPA should be done away with.... It perhaps goes without saying that the current owners of the Port Authority can be changed if they desire to relinquish their interest.
“That is for the owners to decide but, as it stands, the GBPA as an organisation, it is with us for the next 29 years. We should accept that fact; the fact that the Grand Bahama Port Authority is playing an important role in the well-being of Grand Bahama as it is.” The Government launched its $357m demand, and arbitration proceedings, after the GBPA’s
likely to reignite questions over whether the Government merely kicked a lot of bills over into 2024-2025 to ensure it came in near its 2023-2024 deficit target and thus avoided triggering fiscal responsibility clauses requiring it to present a corrective action plan to Parliament.
“This outcome reflected a 3.1 percent ($7.7m) growth in revenue receipts to $256m alongside an 11.2 percent ($34.6m) increase in spending to $344.5m,” the Ministry of Finance said of October’s fiscal performance. “Tax collections improved yearover-year by 7.2 percent ($15.8m) to $236m, and included the following key contributors.
“VAT receipts rose by $5.8m to $132.6m, reflecting improvement in the goods and services and realty components. International trade and transactions taxes grew by $8.9m to $67m, driven by gains in departure taxes. Non-tax revenue aggregated $19.8m for a 29.3 percent ($8.2m) decrease year-over-year, owing to timing differences of interest income.” As for government spending, the Ministry of Finance added:
“The $321.5m in recurrent outlays for the month represented an increase of 9 percent ($26.6m) from the
owners declined its offer to purchase their interests.
Mr Hayward, meanwhile, sought to dispel the notion that the Government and GBPA are constantly fighting to Freeport’s detriment by suggesting that relations between the two sides in private are far more cordial than they appear in public.
“I think politics is always a lot of fanfare,” he argued. “I think behind the scenes there is a collective willingness to turn Freeport around. There are longstanding relationships between the management and principals of the Port Authority with many members of government.
“I count the Prime Minister’s wife as a friend and I like the Prime Minister enormously. He’s very accommodating when we sit down and talk about things behind closed doors. I think we need to get the public messaging right.
“It’s important that people see the stakeholders in Grand Bahama working together, not just behind the scenes but also in public. We have always said that we want partnership, we want to support the Government. We want to see our government thrive and succeed for the benefit of not just Grand Bahama but the benefit of the entire Bahamas. It’s a work in progress.”
Mr Hayward, in responding to attendee questions, reiterated the GBPA’s calls for Freeport’s bye-laws to be reformed so that it can demolish dilapidated buildings and address “urban blight” that scars the city’s physical environment.
Asked about street and cross-walk lights not being in service, he said: “The small things matter. That’s the reality. Big vision and
corresponding period in the prior year. Use of goods and services expanded by $27m to $73.9m, driven by payments for rent and utilities, alongside acquisition of various services.
“Personal emoluments increased by $5m to $73m, and subsidies were lower by $5.7m at $37.3m. Capital expenditures widened by $8m to $23m. The bulk was expended for the acquisition of non-financial assets (95.6 percent), and the remaining 4.4 percent represented capital transfers.” The Government’s outstanding debt also increased by $54.7m during October 2024.
“Aggregate expenditure settled at $344.5m, with the recurrent and capital components at $321.5m and $23m, respectively. The yearover-year $26.6m increase in recurrent expenses was primarily associated with higher outlays on the use of goods and services ($27m) relative to rental and utilities payments alongside the acquisition of various services,” the Ministry of Finance added.
“Under capital spending, the acquisition of non-financial assets, which makes up 95.6 percent of the total, expanded by $7.3m.”
dreams are important as a precursor to growth, but if we don’t get the small things right it actually means nothing.”
In a hint of financing and cash constraints, Mr Hayward said: “There is no magic money tree. Cleaning up after six storms is extremely expensive. It’s all privately funded. We are doing our best to make sure the city looks as good as it can. We do need our byelaws updated.
“We are constrained by our existing bye-laws. It stops us being able to demolish the buildings we desperately want to demolish. That is a really important next hurdle to solving some of the urban blight.”
And, in reply to concerns that Grand Bahama-based hospitality businesses are struggling to identify and recruit suitable, trained staff, Mr Hayward said: “That’s the problem when an economic model fails, which we’ve seen for the last 20 years with storms, economic shocks.
“There is a lost generation who have not had jobs here in Grand Bahama, who have not had the benefit of the approach to training them and giving them an experience they can bring to the workplace that they can even pass on to their children.”
Mr Hayward described education and training as “the cornerstone” for creating opportunities for Bahamians who serve international clients able to go anywhere in the world. He added that it was “clear we have to do more” on hospitality and tourism training.
Banish regulatory ‘handcuffs’ so that Freeport can thrive
of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement have been watered down and diluted.... Today, there’s approximately $14bn in real terms invested in Freeport since its inception in 1955.
The reality is it could, and should, be closer to $100bn.
“But, sadly, the gradual watering down of the regulatory regime, excessive red tape, and guardrails on Immigration have undermined the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, which by its very existence created the Magic City.” To reverse course and revive Freeport, Mr Hayward argued that “we don’t need to reinvent the wheel” but, rather, go back to the original roots, vision and intent of the city’s founding treaty.
Later, fielding questions from attendees, he argued that getting Freeport’s economic model correct would have “a snowball effect” where increased investment, employment and economic activity will raise living standards, improve the quality of life and generate more revenues for the GBPA to maintain the city and upgrade its infrastructure.
Asked whether it is the GBPA or the Government who is responsible for the deterioration of key infrastructure in the Port area, Mr Hayward replied: “I think it’s a collective effort. We can all do better. I’m not standing here to say the Port Authority is perfect. In fact, I’ve said in a number of speeches that we need to create a... world class organisation.
“We do have constraints, and those constraints can be resolved by us
working closely with the Government. I am sure the Government would say there are things we need to do better but we know there are building blocks for sustainable, sustained growth in Grand Bahama and those building blocks are what I mentioned today.
“Getting our regulatory framework right, improving the ease of doing business, improving the processes that allow foreign direct investment to come here so that more money then trickles down. The Port Authority has some more revenue it can reinvest back into the city, we all have jobs, everyone can look after their yards and the roads look better,” Mr Hayward added.
“It’s a snowball effect but it comes from the building blocks which are streamlined processes, creating a competitive ease of doing business environment. From that everything else flows.” Earlier, in his formal Grand Bahama Business Outlook address, Mr Hayward had urged this nation to break from from “a Nassau-centric mindset” that is holding back development of other islands.
Noting that Freeport faces regional competition from the likes of Panama and Jamaica’s special economic zones (SEZs), he added: “What would it take for Freeport to compete with even one SEZ in Dubai? What would it take to at least scale the $3bn in investments that we have slated for Grand Bahama to reach $30bn or $40bn every year?
“What would it take for Freeport to regain its rightful place as one of the leading SEZs in the world?
A place that generates so much business that Bahamian unemployment is functionally eradicated. A regional beacon of excellence in sustainability, in good governance with a diversified economy in multiple sectors, which means that we Bahamians don’t need to go abroad to fulfill our dreams, but can do so at home.”
Mr Hayward continued:
“The key lies in a mindset shift from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset. From a mindset of handcuffing or constraining business to an ease of doing business mentality. In my mind, it’s not about redistributing what we have. It’s about recognising that the pie can be infinitely bigger so everyone can share in a bigger opportunity.
“Freeport must offer more to prospective investors than Cayman Enterprise City, or Panama Pacifico and Colon, or the new free trade zone in Kingston and the other Jamaican SEZs.... Deeper collaboration with the Government is needed to revise outdated policies and regulation, fast-track permits and reduce bureaucracy.
Today, as a lived experience, I can tell you a big project can take up to a decade to become a reality thanks to red tape. but a single hurricane can destroy it in an instant. We have to be honest about how our current state of affairs came about. Hurricanes and global economic shocks have exposed the fragility of Freeport’s economic model, which has strayed from the original tenets of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement.
“But all the necessary provisions are still contained within that agreement, but constrained by national legislation. If they can be reinstated, we can significantly boost the competitive landscape from what we have today.... The future we all want is within our grasp. We must work together to ensure that it doesn’t slip through our fingers.”
Mr Hayward added that the Grand Bahama Shipyard will “be like a city within a city” when its $660m investment in two dry docks is completed and fully operational by yearend 2026, re-establishing it as “the premier commercial and cruise ship repair operation worldwide”.
And he confirmed that Billy Cay will be redeveloped into a new cruise port and amusement park by a combination of the Freeport Harbour Company, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and Royal Caribbean. “Combined with Freeport’s existing cruise port redevelopment, Freeport will see a total increase of roughly 30,000 additional visitors every single day, almost doubling the current population,” Mr Hayward said, “and that’s on top of the incredible investment into Celebration Key by Carnival Cruise lines further east.”
However, he conceded: “At the same time, we must acknowledge that in Freeport we are used to hearing big numbers, seeing false dawns, and experiencing unfulfilled promises. The truth is that, today, only some of us are feeling the impact of these projects –many of us are not.”
Breakfast is booming at US restaurants. Is it also contributing to high egg prices?
By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer
It's a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem.
Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Eggs Up Grill has 90 restaurants in nine southern states, up from 26 in 2018. Floridabased Another Broken Egg Café celebrated its 100th restaurant last year.
Fast-food chains are also adding more breakfast items. Starbucks, which launched egg bites in 2017, now has a breakfast menu with 12 separate items containing eggs. Wendy's
reintroduced breakfast in 2020 and offers 10 items with eggs.
Reviews website Yelp said 6,421 breakfast and brunch businesses opened in the United States last year, 23% more than in 2019. In normal times, producers could meet the demand for all those eggs. But an ongoing bird flu outbreak, which so far has forced farms to slaughter nearly 159 million chickens, turkeys and other birds — including nearly 47 million since the start of December — is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. In January, the average price of eggs in the U.S. hit a record $4.95 per dozen.
The percentage of eggs that go to U.S. restaurants versus other places, like grocery stores or food manufacturers, is not publicly
available. U.S. Foods, a restaurant supplier, and Cal-Maine Foods, the largest U.S. producer of shell eggs, did not respond to The Associated Press' requests for comment.
But demand from restaurants is almost certainly growing. Foot traffic at U.S. restaurants has grown the most since 2019 for morning meals, 2019, according to market research firm Circana.
CARNIVAL CHOOSING VENDORS ‘OUTSIDE OF GRAND BAHAMA’
FROM PAGE B1
Carnival Cruise line’s prerogative to decide who they decide to have in the cruise port,” said Mrs Moxey. “I continue to encourage them to ensure that Grand Bahamian businesses are represented. We have all, I would say, from the Prime Minister to the deputy prime minister, and all of us have been speaking to Carnival Cruise Lines and encourage for there to be much more Grand Bahama businesses that are involved. So again, it is based on their organisation and who they decide to have in the organisation. We are not involved at all in the selection process.”
The participant highlighted that from a business owner’s perspective the project has not made a meaningful contribution to Grand Bahama.
When questioned on what government is doing to ensure more local participation by foreign investors as Grand Bahama residents are not feeling the effect of
the over $2bn investments in the island, Mrs Moxey said Grand Bahamians will always have top priority on the island and the Ministry for Grand Bahama has been communicating with Carnival to ensure businesses are kept up to date on any new opportunities.
“We’ve been meeting frequently on everything from contractors, contraction companies and the RFPs that go out to ensure that it’s communicated widely aware so that [businesses] are aware of these opportunities that that exist,” said Mrs Moxey.
“And yes, Grand Bahama is, and should always be, the priorities on Grand Bahama Island .And so I would say that we continue to advocate for and we’ll continue to address that, because, again, as business happens, as with all the millions that’s in the economy right now our people should be able to benefit from them, and so again, we will continue to advocate for and we strongly advocate.”
of work completed using the allocated funding”.
“Having great business ideas is not enough,” Mr Gibson said. “Entrepreneurs need skills, knowledge, certifications, to execute their vision successfully. The Tourism Development Corporation is committed to industry-specific training and certification programs. These will ensure that Grand Bahamians are globally competitive and well-equipped to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving tourism industry.
“Key components of our training and development services include professional certifications for hospitality and tourism... customer service training, financial literacy and business management courses
and digital marketing and branding workshops. With specialised training, we will produce more skilled tour operators, hospitality professionals and tourism entrepreneurs who not only compete but lead in their respective fields. To strengthen this initiative, we are offering business development services that include business plan writing, business coaching, public relations and branding, marketing, strategy development. Additionally, we will be collaborating with international industry experts to bring world-class training programmes to Grand Bahama. By doing this, we ensure that our entrepreneurs are equipped with cutting-edge technology and best practices that will give them a competitive advantage.”
Doctors Hospital unveils healthcare finance entry
going to take risk. Our risk, though, is going to be not only in dollars collected versus dollars paid out, but our risk is going to be in the capacity being built and ability to manage utilisation.
“Utilisation in healthcare means keeping people well, keeping them out of the hospital if they don’t need to be there. So if we manage our risk well we actually believe we can deliver a product that allows most Bahamians somewhere in the range, not of $600 or $600 en route to $1,000, but we believe there is an opportunity in the range of $500 a month to deliver full and traditional healthcare insurance-like pricing for all of the things that most Bahamians would need.
“How do we do that? We focus on wellness, we do not use fee for service in wellness offerings, we don’t have mitigants at the point of getting well.” Mr Deveaux identified such “mitigants”, or healthcare deterrents, as the copays and deductibles that patients must pay to access care.
These fees, sometimes as low as $20 or $50, could still deter Bahamians from seeking primary healthcare and result in patients with hypertension or diabetes
ending up in hospital emergency care and facing costs of up to $75,000 because they were not treated early enough.
“We believe that if we can incentivise physicians, not with fee for service, and fee for service says ‘the more you do, the more you get paid’,” Mr Deveaux explained. “We believe that if we can incentivise physicians to do the work when patients are healthy that we can ultimately bring them back up the cost curve of healthcare in The Bahamas and that we can actually beat the average.”
The Doctors Hospital financial chief said it was becoming increasingly difficult for retirees to afford health insurance coverage priced at between $1,400 to $1,500 per month even if they were well, adding: “They cannot afford it on a fixed income.”
And, with business operating costs constantly escalating, he added: “As businesses become less profitable given the tax environment, they are unable to shoulder the premium load they currently carry today and are likely to reduce the richness of the benefits they offer.
“When we talk to chief executives and chief human resource officers, they’re trying to figure out how they can keep that premium
expense from growing by 25 percent a year, and get it down to 12 percent or 16 percent.”
Healthcare affordability, and insurance coverage, has become a growing concern for many Bahamians due to ever-escalating costs. “Doctors Hospital in its 2024 financials warned of “a material headwind” to profitability after it was forced to more than triple provisions to cover medical bill non-payment by government patients and insurers to $12.7m.
The BISX-listed healthcare provider disclosed that allowances for unpaid medical bills had jumped almost 263 percent year-over-year, compared to the prior year’s total $3.5m patient provisions, for the 12 months to end-January 2024.
Government patients accounted for $11m, or 86.6 percent, of the provisions total after increasing significantly from $3m at the end of Doctors Hospital’s 2023 financial year. It attributed the surge to its increased willingness to “bridge bottlenecks” in the Bahamian public healthcare system by taking in more patients from Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) to relieve that facility’s capacity constraints. And allowances for sums owed by “third-party payers”, namely health
Chocolate love has its price on Valentine’s Day as cocoa costs make hearts shudder, not flutter
By RAF CASERT Associated Press
ST. VALENTINE chocolates always seek to show how deep your love is. This year, it might just also show how deep your pockets are.
With the price of cocoa beans setting unprecedented records on the commodities market, it will certainly turn the gift of love into a bigger financial commitment than it once was. Turns out that if love is reputed to be eternal, a low price for cocoa, the essential ingredient in chocolate, is not.
No beans, no Valentine's chocolate
"The price increase of cocoa is absolutely spectacular, now for 2, 2½ years," said Philippe de Sellier, the head of both Leonidas and Belgian chocolate federation Choprabisco. When it stood at less than $2,000 a ton in the summer of 2022, it really took over early last
year and peaked at well over $12,000 during the Christmas season and has been hovering around the $10,000 mark since.
"We are seeing unprecedented prices. They haven't been this high for the last 50 years," said Bart Van Besien, policy adviser of the Oxfam fair trade group. And the impact can be felt deep in chocolate gourmet country Belgium, where some of its 280 chocolate companies are left with a bleeding heart during Valentine's week.
Dominque Persoone, owner of the famed Chocolate Line brand, still has plenty of beans to grind in his workshop in Bruges, but considers himself lucky, partly because he also has his own cocoa plantation in Mexico.
"I have a lot of colleagues who are really in trouble, because the price is too high," he said. "If you don't
have good contacts, they just don't deliver anymore."
Some just close for Valentine, he said, turning one of the few financial bonanzas of the year into a forced vacation, hoping that Easter, with its eggs and bunnies, will bring better tidings. Many chocolatiers can't go for the usual profit margins and turn all the extra costs of the cocoa prices over to their customers. Persoone said that his chocolates increased in price by 20% over the last year alone while de Selliers said that it depends very much from producer to producer.
The perfect chocolate storm
The shock of cocoa prices pretty much is a metaphorical perfect storm, mixing climate, disease, commodity speculation, the plight of farmers and social ascendency around the world into one heady mix.
insurers covering medical bills on clients’ behalf, also more than tripled yearover-year from $549,277 to $1.662m. The BISX-listed healthcare provider said this increase stemmed from insurers either not fully covering medical costs or raising co-payments and deductibles, which has resulted in more patients struggling to meet their share of the bill.
The $12.7m in patientrelated loss provisions accounted for 95.5 percent of the $13.3m in total expected credit losses (ECL) at end-January 2024. The latter figure represented a more than doubling, or 145.8 percent increase, compared to the prior year’s $5.404m total allowances.
And the near-$8m provisioning increase was arguably the major drag on Doctors Hospital’s profitability for the year to end-January 2024, with net and comprehensive income declining by more than $860,000 or 30 percent compared to the prior year.
The healthcare provider’s bottom line for the period fell from $2.81m in 2023 to $1.945m.
Warning shareholders about its “rising exposure to uncompensated care and declining payer coverage [and] reimbursement, Doctors Hospital management
nevertheless confirmed it will never turn any patient in need of care away while pledging to work with the Government to address the challenges posed by uninsured persons who cannot afford to cover treatment costs themselves.
“Due to broad issues with inpatient capacity at the national level, and the spillover effects of those constraints as a driver of higher self-pay patients in New Providence, Doctors Hospital Health Systems (DHHS) saw its related provision for expected credit losses under IFRS (international financial reporting standard) nine grow to $11m versus $3m in the prior year,” the BISXlisted healthcare provider wrote in its annual report.
“Notwithstanding these earnings challenges, the group continues to stand affirmatively in the gap, bridging bottlenecks in the public system and working collaboratively with the Government of The Bahamas to define long-term solutions to its capacity challenges for uninsured patients.” And the inability of the Government and public healthcare patients to cover their bills is not the only challenge.
“In addition to growing self-pay financial risk, the group saw increased exposure to declining
reimbursement rates across large payers which also negatively impacted net income,” Doctors Hospital added in relation to sums due from Bahamian health insurers. “The provision against third-party accounts receivables balances increased to $1.7m in financial year 2024, up materially from $0.5m in the period prior.
“Decreased reimbursement exists when payers remit less than what is invoiced for services or when higher financial risk is transferred to members/ groups in the form of higher out of pocket obligationsco-payments, deductibles - which are subsequently unmet.” This means more patients are unable to meet their share of treatment costs as insurers move to mitigate and reduce their own risk exposure.
With other provisions added to the total $12.7m allowance for non-payment by patients and their insurers, Doctors Hospital added: “Combined, the expected credit loss expense (loss allowance) for financial year 2024 was $13.3m, a material headwind to net income.”
"The drop that has happened now in production was directly linked to climate change," said Van Besien, blaming changes in annual rain and drought patterns in western Africa that weakened the sensitive trees in key production areas. Persoone also said that the temperature differences between night and day increased in the small strip of land around the equator where the trees can thrive. Compounded by disease, it made sure too many harvests failed.
At the same time across the world, populations lifted themselves out of poverty, middle classes expanded in places like China and the craving for the delicacy increased.
And making matters worse, the years of slumping prices for the beans simply drove farmers off the land to look for a better future in the cities and pushed production further down. De Selliers said that
"60 % of cocoa comes from Ivory Coast and Ghana and these farmers have to make a better living. It is extremely important."
Persoone concurred:
"We didn't pay enough to have an honest price for the farmers."
So, strangely enough, low prices then, help cause high prices now.
"The big irony in the cocoa industry is that farmers are now getting a fair price at the moment they are abandoning cocoa farming," Van Besien said.
"With the price they are getting right now, they could have invested in sustainable practices. They could have sent their children to school."
Chocolate love within reach
Does it mean a premier box of chocolates is a guilty pleasure on Valentine's Day?
"Yeah, the guilt question .... It's one that always works," said Van Besien,
the fair trade expert. "We could not survive if we would be thinking about these things all the time," arguing that legislation should trump consumer emotions.
"We should have laws that make buying cocoa below the cost of the production something illegal. And it should not be up to the consumer to make this decision," he said. Both de Selliers and Persoone hope that if the prices drop down again, they stay around the $5,000 or $6,000 mark.
"I really, really hope the money goes to the farmers," Persoone said.
So in the meantime, despite the price hikes, the chocolate shouldn't leave too bitter a taste.
"It's a small luxury that most people still can afford," Persoone said. "I hope it stays like this."
CHOCOLATE eggs dry in the workshop at The Chocolate Line in Bruges, Belgium, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025.
Photo:Virginia Mayo/AP
A crackdown on substandard homes leaves lowincome Hong Kongers wondering where to go
By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press
JIMMY Au's world shrinks to about the size of a parking space whenever she gets home.
Her cramped Hong Kong home is one of four units carved out of what was once a single apartment. Most of the space is occupied by the bunk bed she shares with her husband and son, and their sleep is often disrupted by neighbors returning late or heading out early. Au's son often gets bruises bumping into things. Privacy is limited, with only a curtain separating the bathroom from the kitchen.
But what troubles Au most about her home is that she might lose it. Hong Kong's government is planning to crack down on what it calls inadequate housing in subdivided apartments, mandating a minimum size and other baseline standards for homes like Au's. A public consultation period ended on Monday, and the government is aiming to pass the rules into law this year.
The proposed rules leave many low-income residents like Au uncertain about their future in one of the world's most expensive housing markets.
Au, a housewife who moved from mainland
China nine years ago, said her family pays about $460 a month in rent, about half of the income her husband makes from irregular renovation jobs. "I'm afraid the rent will get so high we can't afford it," Au said, sitting on the bed's lower bunk, surrounded by clothes, a fan and plastic storage drawers. Housing is a sensitive issue in Hong Kong, one of the world's least affordable cities. Some 7.5 million people live in a small territory that's mostly made up of steep slopes. Just 7%, or 80 square kilometers (30 square miles), of the city's total land are residential. The average price of a flat of less 40 square
meters (430 square feet) in last December ranged from about $13,800 to $16,800 per square meter, depending on district.
Beijing, which sees the city's housing problems as a driver of the 2019 antigovernment protests, wants the city to phase out subdivided units by 2049. The government is also boosting the public housing supply, aiming to provide 189,000 flats over the next five years.
But some 220,000 people rely on subdivided units, including migrants, workers, students and young professionals.
Most subdivided homes are not far from the standards, the government said,
but an estimated 33,000 units would need major renovations to meet them.
The proposed rules would mandate a minimum size of at least eight square meters (86 square feet), a bar the government says it meant to leave room for low-priced housing. Every unit will also need to have a window, a toilet exclusively for the occupants' use, and a door to separate the toilet from other parts of the home, among other criteria.
Landlords will have a grace period to renovate. After that, violations could lead to up to three years' imprisonment and a maximum fine of about $38,500.
Security guard Fafa Ching has lived in multiple
EPA chief says he will seek return of $20 billion in clean-energy
By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press
IN A major reversal, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency said he will try to rescind $20 billion in grants awarded by the Biden administration for climate and clean-energy projects.
In a video posted on X, Administrator Lee Zeldin said the EPA would revoke contracts for a still-emerging “green bank” that is set to fund tens of thousands of projects to fight climate change and promote environmental justice.
The program, approved under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, is formally known as the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, but is more commonly called the green bank. Two initiatives, worth $14 billion and $6 billion respectively, are intended to offer competitive grants to nonprofits, community development banks and other groups for projects with a focus on disadvantaged communities.
The program is a favorite of Democrats who passed President Joe Biden’s signature climate law without a single Republican vote, and former EPA Administrator Michael Regan frequently
grants awarded by Biden
cited it as one of his major accomplishments. Republicans in Congress have called the green bank a “slush fund” and voiced concern over how the money will be used and whether there will be sufficient accountability and transparency. The Republican-controlled House approved a bill last year to repeal the green bank and other parts of Biden’s climate agenda. The bill was blocked in the Democraticcontrolled Senate.
Zeldin, in the video posted Wednesday night, said there will be “zero tolerance of any waste and abuse” at the EPA under his administration. He cited “an extremely disturbing video” on X that features a former EPA staffer stating that the Biden administration was “tossing gold bars off the Titanic” in order to spend billions of taxpayer dollars before President Donald Trump took office. “The days of irresponsibly shoveling boatloads of cash to far-left activist groups in the name of environmental justice and climate equity are over,” Zeldin said. “I’ve directed my team to find your gold bars, and they found them. Now we will get them back inside of control of
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that JOSE NOE NOLASCO RODRIGUEZ of P. O. Box CR-55277, Davis Street, Oakes Field, New Providence, Bahamas, applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 7th day of February, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE
for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 7th day of February, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
government as we pursue next steps.”
The video Zeldin cited was posted by Project Veritas, a right-wing organization that often uses hidden cameras to try to embarrass news outlets, labor organizations and Democratic officials. In this case, the Veritas video showed Brent Efron, a former special assistant to the EPA’s associate administrator for policy, speaking at a bar or restaurant with someone who turned out to be with the group. Efron has since left the EPA.
Clean energy advocates denounced Zeldin’s action as a political stunt and said he was illegally attempting to revoke spending approved by Congress for partisan reasons. They pledged to challenge the directive in court.
“This is not just an attack on clean energy investments — it’s a blatant violation of the Constitution,” said Lena Moffitt, executive director of Evergreen Action, an environmental group that supports the green bank. “The Trump team is once again trying to illegally slash programs
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that UNIGETTY MUSHONGA of #5 Edgecombe Terrace Off Springvale Rd, New Providence, The Bahamas, applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 14th day of February, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that GUESLINE COX of Smith Street West, Chippenham, New Providence, Bahamas, applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 7th day of February, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
subdivided flats for over a decade. Her current unit costs about $490 per month and lacks even a bathroom sink, forcing her to collect water from the showerhead with a basin to wash her face. Her home will need renovation to meet proposed requirements for fire safety and separate electricity and water meters.
Ching worries that upgraded homes will be too expensive for her.
The government has said if necessary, it will offer assistance such as helping affected tenants to find other private accommodation or directly providing temporary shelter. A top official told the city's public broadcaster that transitional housing apartments are ready and assured that large-scale enforcement will happen only when proper resettlement arrangements are available.
Chan Siu-ming, a professor at the City University of Hong Kong's social and behavioral sciences department, welcomed the government's taking steps to set minimum standards, but said its resettlement plans are inadequate.
Chan said the impact could be wider than officials
expect, and the city's supply of public and transitional housing may not meet needs. Low-income residents may also need help shouldering the cost of moving house, he said. As of last September, the average waiting time for a public flat is five and a half years, but it can take even longer than that. Ching said she's waited for eight years. In an emailed response to questions from The Associated Press, the government said it does not expect significant surges in rent as demand will drop with the increasing public housing supply. It reiterated that the rules will be implemented gradually to avoid causing panic.
Chan added that some single people may be forced into even smaller dormitory-like "bed spaces," which are not covered by the proposed rules. Bed spaces are widely considered to be Hong Kong's worst form of housing — partitioned areas in which residents get barely enough space to fit a single bed and some belongings. They are currently regulated under another law, the government said.
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NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that SANJAY ANTHONY PARAGUE of Marshall Road, New Providence, The Bahamas, applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 14th day of February, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that NANA MICHEL of Malcolm Road, New Providence, Bahamas, applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 7th day of February, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
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HOUSEWIFE Jimmy Au stands in her kitchen at home in a residential area of Prince Edward district in Hong Kong on Jan. 21, 2025.
Photo:Kanis Leung/AP
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin speaks as Vice President JD Vance visits the East Palestine Fire Department in East Palestine, Ohio, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025.
Photo:Rebecca Droke/AP
TRUMP SIGNS A PLAN FOR RECIPROCAL TARIFFS ON US TRADING PARTNERS, USHERING IN ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY
By JOSH BOAK Associated Press
PRESIDENT Donald Trump on Thursday rolled out his plan to increase U.S. tariffs to match the tax rates that other countries charge on imports, possibly triggering a broader economic confrontation with allies and rivals alike as he hopes to eliminate any trade imbalances.
"I've decided for purposes of fairness that I will charge a reciprocal tariff," Trump said in the Oval Office at the proclamation signing. "It's fair to all. No other country can complain."
Trump's Republican administration has insisted that its new tariffs would equalize the ability of U.S. and foreign manufacturers to compete, though under current law these new taxes would likely be paid by American consumers and
businesses either directly or in the form of higher prices. The rates to be charged would be studied over the weeks ahead, which could create the potential space to resolve challenges or prolong a degree of suspense and uncertainty.
The politics of tariffs could easily backfire on Trump if his agenda pushes up inflation and grinds down growth, making this a high stakes wager for a president eager to declare his authority over the U.S. economy.
The tariff increases would be customized for each country with the partial goal of starting new trade negotiations. But other nations might also feel the need to respond with their own tariff increases on American goods. As a result, Trump may need to find ways to reassure consumers and businesses to
Yutu Holdings Ltd. (Voluntary Liquidation)
Notice is hereby given that in accordance with Section 138(4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000, the above-named Company is in dissolution, which commenced on the 12th day of February, A.D., 2025. The Liquidator is Galnom Ltd., CUB Financial Center, Western Road, Nassau, Bahamas.
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counteract any uncertainty caused by his tariffs.
The United States does have low average tariffs, but Trump's proclamation as written would seem designed to jack up taxes on imports, rather than pursue fairness as the United States also has regulatory restrictions that limit foreign products, said Scott Lincicome, a trade expert at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.
"It will inevitably mean higher tariffs, and thus higher taxes for American consumers and manufacturers," he said. Trump's tariffs plan "reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of how the global economy works."
Trump's proclamation identifies value-added taxes — which are similar to sales taxes and common in the European Union — as a trade barrier to be included in any reciprocal tariff
calculations. Other nations' tariff rates, subsidies to industries, regulations and possible undervaluing of currencies would be among the factors the Trump administration would use to assess tariffs.
A senior White House official, who insisted on anonymity to preview the details on a call with reporters, said that the expected tariff revenues would separately help to balance the expected $1.9 trillion budget deficit. The official
also said the reviews needed for the tariffs could be completed within a matter of weeks or a few months.
The possible tax increases on imports and exports could be large compared to the comparatively modest tariffs that Trump imposed during his first term. Trade in goods between Europe and the United States nearly totaled $1.3 trillion last year, with the United States exporting $267 billion less than it imports, according to the Census Bureau.
The president has openly antagonized multiple U.S. trading partners over the past several weeks, levying tariff threats and inviting them to retaliate with import taxes of their own that could send the economy hurtling into a trade war.
Trump has put an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports due to that country's role in the production of the opioid fentanyl. He also has readied tariffs on Canada and Mexico, America's two largest trading partners, that could take effect in March after being suspended for 30 days. On top of that, on Monday, he removed the exemptions from his 2018 steel and aluminum tariffs. And he's mused about new tariffs on computer chips and pharmaceutical drugs.
But by Trump's own admission, his separate tariffs for national security and other reasons would be on top of the reciprocal tariffs, meaning that the playing field would not necessarily be level.
In the case of the 25% steel and aluminum tariffs, "that's over and above this," Trump said. Autos, computer chips and pharmaceuticals would also be tariffed at higher rates than what his reciprocal plan charges, he said.
The EU, Canada and Mexico have countermeasures ready to inflict economic pain on the United States in response to Trump's actions, while China has already taken retaliatory steps with its own tariffs on U.S. energy, agricultural machinery and large-engine autos as well
as an antitrust investigation of Google.
The White House has argued that charging the same import taxes as other countries do would improve the fairness of trade, potentially raising revenues for the U.S. government while also enabling negotiations that could eventually improve trade.
But Trump is also making a political wager that voters can tolerate higher inflation levels. Price spikes in 2021 and 2022 severely weakened the popularity of then-President Joe Biden, with voters so frustrated by inflation eroding their buying power that they chose last year to put Trump back in the White House to address the problem. Inflation has risen since November's election, with the government reporting on Wednesday that the consumer price index is running at an annual rate of 3%.
The Trump team has decried criticism of its tariffs even as it has acknowledged the likelihood of some financial pain. It says that the tariffs have to be weighed against the possible extension and expansion of Trump's 2017 tax cuts as well as efforts to curb regulations and force savings through the spending freezes and staff reductions in billionaire adviser Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency initiative. But an obstacle to this approach might be the sequencing of the various policies and the possibilities of a wider trade conflict stifling investment and hiring amid the greater inflationary pressures.
Analysts at the bank Wells Fargo said in a Thursday report that the tariffs would likely hurt growth this year, just as the possibility of extended and expanded tax cuts could help growth recover in 2026.
Trump tried to minimize the likelihood that his policies would trigger anything more than a brief bump in inflation. But when asked if he would ask agencies to analyze the possible impact on prices, the president declined.
COMMERCE Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick listens as President Donald Trump speaks after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington. Photo:Ben Curtis/AP
Wall Street rallies near a record after yawning at Trump's latest tariff threat
By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer
U.S. stocks rallied to the brink of a record Thursday after more companies reported fatter profits than expected. Wall Street mostly yawned, again, at the latest announcement on tariffs by President Donald Trump, which may not take full effect for at least several weeks.
The S&P 500 climbed 1% to pull within 0.1% of its all-time high set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 342 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.5%.
MGM Resorts International leaped to one of the market's biggest gains, 17.5%, after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It cited growth in China and said trends are looking up for its Las Vegas and North American digital businesses.
Other companies reporting better profit than expected included GE
HealthCare Technologies, which rose 8.8%, Molson Coors Beverage, which gained 9.5%, and Robinhood Markets, which jumped 14.1%. Such reports, along with a remarkably solid U.S. economy, have kept U.S. stocks near their records.
A report on Thursday said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, the latest signal of a firm job market. That's even though many downward forces are weighing on stock prices. Chief among them are worries about stubbornly high inflation. A report on Thursday said inflation at the wholesale level was hotter than economists expected last month, following a similar report from the day before on inflation that U.S. consumers are feeling.
Tariffs could push up inflation even further. And Trump on Thursday rolled out his plan to increase U.S. tariffs on imports from other countries that will
be customized, based in part on how much tax each country charges on U.S. goods.
While economists warn about the pain such tariffs can create, financial markets have increasingly taken the threats in stride.
Belief is strong that Trump is using tough talk to drive negotiations, but he may not fully go through with it in order to avoid damaging the U.S. stock market and economy.
It could take weeks or a few months to complete the necessary reviews for the tariffs announced on Thursday, according to a senior White House official who insisted on anonymity to preview the details on a call with reporters. That implies plenty of time for negotiations that could ease the ultimate impact.
Of course, Wall Street's belief that the stock market is serving as a guardrail hemming in Trump may prove dangerous. If the stock market keeps gliding through each escalating
threat, it could embolden Trump to make even bigger moves.
But, for now at least, Trump may be "boxed in" a bit following the high inflation figures that have hit this week, according to Thierry Wizman, a strategist at Macquarie.
Trump has already shown he can quickly pull back on threats, like when he put a 30-day pause on 25% tariffs he had announced for all imports from Canada and Mexico.
Still, Trump followed through on a 10% tariff on Chinese products. GE HealthCare said Thursday it took those tariffs into account when it drew up its forecasts for profit and other financial measures in 2025.
On Wall Street, Deere & Co. fell 2.2% after reporting drops in its revenue and profit for the latest quarter. The farm equipment manufacturer said it was focused on reducing inventory amidst the "uncertain
market conditions" its customers were facing. Reddit, the online message board, dropped 5.3% even as it handily outdistanced Wall Street's fourth quarter sales and profit targets. Cisco Systems gained 2.1% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It cited strength for a wide range of its products, including for artificial-intelligence infrastructure.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 63.10 points to 6,115.07. Its all-time high is 6,118.71, set on Jan. 23. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 342.87 to 44,711.43, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 295.69 to 19,945.64.
In the bond market, Treasury yields eased. While hotter-than-expected inflation data typically sends yields higher, economists saw some encouraging nuggets underneath the surface in Thursday's report.
Easier health care services costs, for example, could
end up helping to pull a different measure of inflation lower, one that the Federal Reserve considers a better measuring stick than the consumer price or producer price indexes.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.53% from 4.63%.
Besides squeezing tighter on U.S. households' budgets, stubbornly high inflation is likely to keep the Federal Reserve on hold for a while when it comes to providing relief to Americans through lower interest rates. The Fed had cut its main interest rate sharply from September through the end of last year, intending to make borrowing cheaper, help the economy and boost prices for stocks, bonds and other investments. But the Fed warned at the end of 2024 it may not cut rates by as much in 2025 because of worries about inflation staying stubbornly high. Its goal is to keep inflation at 2%, and lower rates can give inflation more fuel.
