Bahamian Minister of State for Finance, Senator James Smith announced last week that he is awaiting a report on the current state of the juurisdiction’s stock exchange, the BISX.
Speaking to the Nassau Guardian on Wednesday, Mr Smith revealed that the ad hoc special committee of experts – put together in December and headed by Central Bank governor, Julian Francis – is due to release its report on the extent of public sector support needed by the exchange to ensure its future viability, at the start of next month.
Currently, there are 18 companies listed on the exchange with a capital of around $1.4 billion. However, the Minister of State for Finance told the newspaper that he believes that the timely sale of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company could impact beneficially on the fortunes of the BISX.
Batelco was originally supposed to have been sold three years ago, to coincide with and boost the launch of the exchange.
By Carla Johnson, Investors Offshore.com
