The Government remains committed to “fighting” red tape in the financial services sector, said to be stifling foreign investment, Prime Minister Perry Christie reaffirmed.
It has been over two years since a package of new legislation was passed, radically transforming the country’s financial services sector. Analysts believe that The Bahamas’ economy has suffered as a result.
The Prime Minister said Sunday on the Island FM talk show Parliament Street that his government is committed to reviewing the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, and the International Business Companies Act.
Mr Christie was responding to a question posed by Owen Bethel of Montagu Securities International, who asked him if his perception of the financial services sector had changed since coming to office in 2002.
“My position has not changed,” Mr Christie said. “Very clearly, what we have as a government decided to do was to create a specific ministry with a minister responsible for financial services, therefore giving it full-time attention.”
The appointed minister, Mrs Allyson Maynard-Gibson, was mandated to review the financial laws passed “in a hurry” by the former government, without sufficient consultation.
It is said that it is more dififcult to open a bank account in The Bahamas than any where else.
“Clearly, our commitment to review the laws remain in place and we have been doing so,” the Prime Minister said. “We have been trying to make our financial services sector very competitive as quickly as we possibly can. But to ensure that we get it right, there are organisations like the OECD, and the U.S. that are watching us and there is no question that when we argue that we have been overregulated, we have to do so with great care.”
He said that his government does not intend to disturb the underlying principles of the legislation, but to ensure that red tape is removed.
“It is important that we do it the right way,” he insisted.
Facing a $125 million debt, Prime Minister Christie was optimistic about the sustainability of the Bahamian economy, particularly as the Middle East war has waned.
But, the reality is that the PLP was elected to effect a plan of action, which some say have not been realised.
The Prime Minister said what he noticed during the election campaign is that because of opening of airwaves in the country, people’s expectations are fuelled by domestic and international circumstances.
Brian Nutt, President of the Bahamas Employers Confederation, pointed out
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that the country is faced with a number of internal pressures such as a poor economy, high crime rate, and high cost of doing business.
Additionally, the country is faced with external pressures from trade liberalisation organisations such as the Caricom Single Market and Economy, Free Trade Area of the Americas, and the World Trade Organisation, in addition to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which have all significantly affected the financial services sector.
Mr Christie was applauded for appointing commissions to make recommendations on such pressures.
Mr Nutt asked whether the commissions were living up to their mandate, and whether such bodies would become permanent fixtures in the PLP Government.
The Prime Minister said he worked hard with the business community to quell the perception that the PLP was anti-business.
He said he also worked hard with the foreign business community in The Bahamas, who said that his statement on working with them was the most “unambiguous” of a political leader.
On the issue of labour, Mr Christie said to get the best results from the working populace, he utilized the expertise of persons to review labour laws.
The Chamber of Commerce had commissioned a report on the implications of The Bahamas joining the FTAA, hence a Trade Commission was appointed by the Prime Minister to submit recommendations as to what position the country should take in that trading bloc, set to come on stream 2005.
As regards the Single Market and Economy, which calls for the free movement of people throughout the Caribbean, Mr Christie said he told CARICOM leaders that at the next Heads of Government meeting, he would present The Bahamas’ position on that issue.
On the question of whether he was satisfied that the masses were getting enough information on trade matters, the Prime Minister said that his government has yet to put in place a sustained level of consultation.
By Lindsay Thompson, The Nassau Guardian
