🇧🇸 Bahamas: market & economy news today

Residents: Fresh Creek Bridge Crippling Local Economy

Government Explores New Body to Review Minimum Wage

AML Foods opens second Exuma store amid shipping, tax pressure

AML Foods opens its second Solomon’s store in Exuma today while warning that higher shipping costs and changes to the Government’s VAT regime continue to complicate efforts to deliver lower grocery prices.

$39.3m Budget surplus used ‘every single trick’

THE OPPOSITION’S chairman yesterday accused the Government of employing “every single trick” to derive its $39.3m Budget surplus after the latter confirmed June’s huge revenue and spending jumps resulted from “offsetting” transactions.

Minimum Wage increase likely 'in near future'

A CABINET minister yesterday revealed the ages of 62 and 67 are “sticking” in early debate on raising the retirement age, with “another increase” in the minimum wage also likely “in the near future”.

Doctors Hospital grants staff 22,144 extra shares

Doctors Hospital Health System (DHHS) yesterday granted its staff a further 22,144 common shares in the company through the second transfer in its employee stock ownership plan.

NIF’s $311m outlay creates ‘major challenge’ to surplus

A SENIOR Bahamian banker yesterday argued that the Government’s use of the National Investment Fund (NIF) to finance $311m in capital investments creates “a significant challenge” as to whether the touted $39.3m Budget surplus is “accurate”.

‘Historic’ budget ‘fiction’ as excludes NIF spending

THE PRIME Minister yesterday defended The Bahamas’ “first ever post-Independence” Budget surplus from Opposition charges it is a “fiction”, “false” and “empty” because it excludes the $311m in National Investment Fund (NIF) spending.

Davis announces historic $39.3m fiscal surplus

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis yesterday announced that The Bahamas recorded its first fiscal surplus since independence, reporting a $39.3m surplus for the 2025/2026 financial year.

Gov’t Posts $39M Surplus, Falls Short of Budget Target

Chamber warns fiscal surplus must reflect genuine improvement, not deferred payments

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) is urging the government to demonstrate that its reported $39.3 million fiscal surplus represents genuine financial improvement rather than accounting adjustments or delayed payments, while calling for a clear plan to translate the…

Multinational corporate tax generates $68.6M but falls below budget forecast

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The government’s newly implemented multinational corporate tax generated just $68.6 million during the 2025/2026 fiscal year, falling $61.5 million short of its $130.1 million revenue target, according to the Ministry of Finance’s latest fiscal report.

PM, Opposition clash over fiscal surplus

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Prime Minister Philip Davis and Opposition members clashed in Parliament on Wednesday over the government’s declaration of a historic $39.3 million fiscal surplus, with the Opposition questioning whether hundreds of millions of dollars in National Investment Fund (NIF) expenditure had been excluded…

Statistics don’t always match economic reality

“The economy, stupid.” The phrase, famously associated with political strategist James Carville during Bill Clinton’s 1992 US presidential election campaign, was intended to keep the effort focused on the issue that mattered most to voters: The economy.

Chamber chief wants GB to boost maritime, farming

GRAND Bahama must increase investment in agriculture and marine industries to strengthen food security, reduce reliance on imports and diversify its economy, the island’s Chamber of Commerce president is urging.

GB growth optimism matches concerns over business costs

MORE than half of Grand Bahama’s businesses are cautiously optimistic over the island’s economic outlook for the next 12 months with almost two-thirds both expecting to grow but citing cost of doing business concerns.

Chamber moves to save Bahamian businesses facing closure over succession challenges

NASSAU, BAHAMAS: The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Confederation (BCCEC) is moving to prevent established Bahamian businesses from shutting down due to retirement and succession challenges, launching an initiative to connect owners with prospective buyers, investors and a new generation of entrepreneurs…

Opposition Senator demands resignations over power outages, warns of mounting business losses

NASSAU, BAHAMAS: An Opposition Senator is demanding resignations at the “highest levels” of the country’s energy sector, warning that persistent electricity outages are costing Bahamian businesses revenue, depriving employees of income and threatening economic activity across New Providence and the Family Islands.

First Quarter Stats Suggests Unemployment on Decline

Bahamas gov’t looking to cut egg imports

Alexander Burrows Jr takes office as BPSU president

ALEXANDER Burrows Jr took office as the new president of the Bahamas Public Services Union yesterday and told members unhappy with his election that "elections are won at the polls", a message from a man who twice challenged the union's election process himself.

Golden Yolk ramps up egg production as government targets imports

NASSAU, BAHAMAS- The Government’s Golden Yolk Project has produced 200,000 eggs and now has 10,000 laying hens in production, as it moves to increase domestic supply and reduce The Bahamas’ dependence on imported eggs.

Unemployment falls to 8.1 percent as underemployment sees 11 percent rise

THE national unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent in the first quarter of 2026, but the number of underemployed people rose by 11 percent, according to the Bahamas National Statistical Institute.

Chamber: Collect what on books before new taxation

THE BAHAMAS Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) is urging the Government to focus on collecting revenue already on the books, tighten spending and improve fiscal transparency before considering any new or increased taxes.

‘Work never done’: 20% jobless or underemployed

THE CHAMBER of Commerce’s chairman says “the work will never be done” after the Labour Force Survey for the 2026 first quarter revealed that almost one in five Bahamians are either under or unemployed.