EDITOR, The Tribune.

According to the website https://countrymeters.info/en/Bahamas/economy, the Bahamas’s debt is US $7.338 billion and the Bahamas GDP is US $7.269 billion. This gives a debt to GP ratio of 100.9%. This is phenomenal. I warn that the Global Financial crisis has not climaxed and things will get worst before they get better. In 2006 in the US, people started to default on their mortgage loans, but it did not climax until 2008.

Similarly in the US the financial crisis is just beginning with the start of bankruptcies of companies like Brooks Brothers, Hertz and JC Penny and the worst is yet to come. China, the world’s second largest economy is also weak. China recently nationalised nine financial institutions.

The Bahamas needs to strengthen its internal economy and increase food security by investment in agriculture. The Atlanta Fed projects that US second quarter gross domestic product will decline by 52.8%. There is still protest in many US states over the George Floyd killing by police and President Trump on July 20, 2020 said he will send Federal agents to major cites where the protests are occurring. The major source of tourists and remittance for The Bahamas is the US. US is the Bahamas’ number one trading partner. Get ready, it is going to be a bumpy ride.

BRIAN E PLUMMER

Nassau,

July 20, 2020.