Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said today that the local economy “has turned the corner” and that The Bahamas could look forward to better days.
In a mid-year budget statement to Parliament, Ingraham said the improvement in the local economy is “solidly anchored in our fundamental fiscal anchors and is designed to return us to more prudent and sustainable levels of government debt over time.
“… there are clear indications that the economy has turned the corner and that, despite the risks that are present, we can look forward to better days ahead,” he added.
Ingraham said his administration, as with other governments around the world, had executed an economic and fiscal strategy tailored to the vital needs of the local economy and citizens.
“Along with key structural reforms designed to enhance the domestic business environment, we are positioning The Bahamas to gain maximum advantage from the modest, though ongoing, economic recovery that is underway.”
The Prime Minister said the first half of the budget year occurred in a global economic environment in which there was continuing but modest growth, especially in the United States economy.
“This had obvious implications for the performance of the Bahamian economy and our fiscal performance in the first half,” he said, noting that the U.S. economy is now forecast to expand by three per cent in 2011, which is almost three-quarters of a point higher than was projected last October, largely on the basis of the fiscal package passed in late 2010.
Ingraham said that growth in the emerging and developing countries is expected to continue at its recent strong pace, averaging 6.5 per cent in 2011.
The Prime Minister said that his administration believes the local economy will grow by at least two per cent this year, adding that it will be supported by growth in the key tourist markets.
In addition, Ingraham said that various local projects such as the multi-billion Baha Mar tourism project, “will provide impetus for the construction sector. (CMC)
