Soooooooooooo, when is the government going to show us that they have responsibly spent this "extra" income????? ............... and will they do the refunds to the business operators as promised???? .................... the Consolidated Fund "black hole" is a serious flaw though

its called play money or funny money. like losing in court in the ahh soo frivolous law suits from the foreigners illegally kicked out of the country, or going up in flames at BAMSI. I think the Government members are hooked to these failures like a drug addict to his stuff. Only way to get them away from it is let them go cold turkey. take away the money so they cant play anymore.

So Mr. Halkitis Bahamian businesses and Bahamian taxpayers have fulfilled their part of the bargain, when will this government fulfill theirs??? Why with an extra 550 million do we still have annual deficits and why is there no Freedom of Information Act and no accountability from this government? You should be embarrassed to report these numbers, Bahamians are being gouged by this government in the form of excessive taxes, making all of the sacrifices with no accountability and transparency or fiscal responsibility on the part of this corrupt government.

Put that $550M into the Principal of the County's deficit. It now stands at 6.85 Billion! In paying the Principal we should have our deficit down to ZERO in 8 years! But with the continued borrowing that will be needed, sayin 12 Years!! Hopefully after that, then our VAT then can be used instead of Borrowing!

what 550m? the ones that will be work maybe 250m, once the BSD is on free float?

PLP and embarrass cannot co-exist in the same statement ........... remember that the PLP is ordained by God to rule this land (thats a joke!!!!!!)

This makes whoever made the estimate look incompetent. Off by such a large amount

Describing a foreigner as incompetent is an oxymoron to the PLP & FNM!

Halkitis says of the fiscal deficit - "It is like when you have a boulder running down the hill and you have to first slow it down and then stop it and then push it back up." No doubt Standard and Poor's will be well impressed with this PLP financial wizard's complete grasp of the situation.

and the investment into BOB is probably still on the Government books at cost.

This is the PLP's only success.... raping the population of their money!!!!!

**.......... 55 Ministers, bankers and businessmen stole $9 Billion from Nigeria's economy .......**

http://news.yahoo.com/nigeria-minister-…

How many $Billions have ministers, friends, family and lovers stolen from Bahamas economy?

Anyone notice that not a single opposition member has properly called for the elimination and reduction of customs duties and the reduction of other critical fees due to all this boasting about hundreds of millions of dollars in VAT above budgeted estimates? And by properly called, I don't mean mouthing a general call in a press release, but actually showing from the budget where these cuts could take place and how it would balance out revenue vs expenditure estimates.

there is no real opposition. it's all stage show. only the ignorant believe their tired rhetoric

So they collected MORE VAT money than anticipated, yet they STILL added to the deficit...BRILLIANT!!

And all of the VAT dollars collected by the corrupt Christie-led PLP government have been effectively pissed away through the millions and millions of dollars of fraudulent loans and advances made by Bank of The Bahamas to corrupt political friends and business cronies at the behest of Christie and Ingraham during their respective PLP and FNM tenures as Minister of Finance. Poor honest hardworking Bahamians are left holding the bag filled with an increasing level of National Debt that they and their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, great great grandchildren and so on are destined to be crushed under for all time to come. How truly sad for generations of impoverished Bahamians to come!

nice. good job. what happened to it?

**Perry Christie speaking yesterday in Jamaica on -** Someone else must have written this without his knowledge.
Governance

**The need for good governance is widely recognize**d in today’s discourses on economic development.Fair and effective governance is critical to ensuring that development benefits both people and the planet itself.

**The IMF has spelled out the relationship between good governance and economic development in its declaration Partnership for Sustainable Global Growth that was adopted by the IMF’s Interim Committee in September 1996.

It identified "promoting good governance in all its aspects, including ensuring the rule of law, improving the efficiency and accountability of the public sector, and tackling corruption" as an essential element of a framework within which economies can prosper.**

One of the most important areas of good governance that governments in the region must effect is **legal frameworks that are enforced fairly and impartially.**

**The enforcement of the rule of law and protection of property rights and fundamental rights of citizens** has an important bearing on economic development.

**Protection of human rights**, particularly those of minorities, and the timely, effective and **corruption-free enforcement of laws require an independent and incorruptible judiciary and police force.**

Experience shows that some of the most important factors considered by investors as they decide on **investment location include a predictable and non-discriminatory regulatory environment and the absence of undue administrative impediments to business.**

These are areas that must be closely monitored and continuously improved upon to attract and sustain higher investment flows. At the same time, policy makers must always be flexible and forward looking.

In particular, **we must avoid becoming stuck in modalities of governance that the rest of the world is moving away from.**

Good governance requires policy and laws to be in sync with current realities and in step with generally accepted global norms.

**The management of public finances is another area where good governance is of paramount importance.**

Fiscal consolidation is vital for countries in the region to avoid inflation while maintaining fiscal and monetary stability and finding resources for public service administration, developmental needs and social welfare expenditure.

**Transparency and accountability, economic management through improved management of public resources through reforms covering public sector institutions and low levels of corruption are other core elements of good governance necessary for meaningful economic development.**

basically everything we're not over here

If we made $550 million why did we borrow $60 million for hurricane relief? Just curious.

We must remember that the Government hasn't yet started to repay all of those zero rated companies who have had to contribute tens of thousands of dollars and are owed those monies back.

I am interested to see what VAT's 'payable' amount is.

Halkitis is a bungling idiot.....note how he carefully avoids mentioning the word "net". The gross figure of $500 million he quotes is also grossly inflated to begin with. And add to this the fact that many Bahamian businesses are now finding it increasingly difficult to get back from government the VAT refunds they are entitled to receive.