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Fuahea Semi was an athlete from Tonga who wanted to attend the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics as an athlete.
By NEIL HARTNELL
Total stopover visitors to the Bahamas have fallen by 11 per cent during a period when the Government’s tax take from the hotel/tourism industry has risen by $264 million.
Bahamian hotels have warned that their market share in a key visitor demographic could “dwindle to less than 19 per cent” were the initial Value-Added Tax (VAT) proposal to be implemented, Tribune Business can reveal.
The Tax Coalition’s co-chair yesterday queried how the Government had calculated that a 16 per cent payroll tax would be needed to match the revenues generated by a 10 per cent Value-Added Tax (VAT), calling on it to share its findings with the public.
A joint venture has submitted a licence application to explore for oil in eight areas north of Grand Bahama, a notice published by the Government revealed yesterday.
The Bahamian economy would receive a much-needed multi-billion dollar injection if international wreck salvaging companies were permitted to work in its waters, one operator yesterday warning it would be “tremendously sad” if this opportunity was not exploited.
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THE Government is “finalising matters” with an operator to run the Memories Grand Bahama Beach Resort’s casino,. a senior tourism official confirmed yesterday, noting that it was now in the “due diligence” stage.
BAHA MAR executives revealed yesterday that nearly $39 million more than their $400 million pledge had been awarded to Bahamian contractors to-date, adding that $715 million in bids had been tendered up to mid-March.
Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts & Lodges yesterday announced that Bimini Sands Resort & Marina had become the latest Bahamian property to join its branded Expedition Collection.
Food retailers have warned that price control margins must “at least double” to help the industry thrive again, with an almost-10 percentage point increase from current levels “ the bare minimum that it takes to secure our survival”.
The Government’s unfunded civil service pension liabilities will “explode” unless urgent reform action is taken, a senior accountant suggesting these could mean the national debt is really as high as $6.5 billion.
The private sector is set to “re-engage” the Government over its proposal to take over the Business Licence process, amid renewed business cries about the “onerous” requirements they must meet.
The Bahamian financial services industry is not growing at a fast enough rate to absorb the more than 100 job losses announced year-to-date, the Opposition’s finance spokesman fears.
FINCO’s planned consolidation has hit a BISX-listed fund’s ambitions of reducing the vacancy rate at its flagship property, its administrator conceding this would now increase to almost one-third of available space.
The Bahamian automotive industry has warned that it will have to “realign” due to the combined impact of Business Licence fee increases and the proposed Value-Added Tax (VAT), a development that could result in job losses and reductions in business size.
TROPICAL Shipping’s $220 million sale to Seattle-based transportation provider, Saltchuk, will provide the company with much stronger capabilities within the US and a capital base for investment in new ships and services, the Arawak Port Development Company’s (APD) chief executive believes.
Domestic Bahamian manufacturers and their 15,000-strong workforce will be “out of business” without tariff protection, a senior industry executive agreeing this had to be balanced with consumers’ needs.
THE proposed Value-Added Tax (VAT) regime will likely exacerbate the more “acute” cash flow issues facing Family Island businesses, a well-known attorney has warned.
THE Government needs to “level the playing field” and offer Family Island business operators the same concessions and incentives as those granted to foreign developers, the Eleuthera Chamber of Commerce’s president has argued.
Radio spectrum fees are generating almost $500,000 less than they should be, due to the existence of “legacy arrangements” with certain operators.
The Government recently borrowed $300 million in the form of a US dollar bond issue. The minister of state for finance, Michael Halkitis, announced that the bond issue was oversubscribed and that institutional investors were willing to lend Government up to $6 billion. He further stated that the Government was pleased, and somewhat surprised, by the relatively low coupon rate (rate of interest that has to be paid on the bond) of 5.75 per cent instead of the expected 6.5 per cent rate. Mr Halkitis implied that this demonstrated the faith that investors have in the creditworthiness of the Bahamian government.
A Cabinet Minister yesterday described renewed investor interest in acquiring the former $4.9 billion Ginn sur mer project as “a breath of fresh air”, confirming to Tribune Business that activity had “spiked” in the past three months.
THE Bahamas Real Estate Association’s (BREA) newly-elected president yesterday said it was “grossly unfair” for the Government to levy Stamp Tax based on on appraisal values rather than the instant property transaction’s sales price.