When are we going to reduce expenditures? There is no sign of that in the financial projections from the ministry of finances for three years out. This is unacceptable, personal emoluments ( civil service salaries) have increased 40% in the last 7 years. Does anyone feel that this is justified, has service from any government ministry improved even at all to warrant this? We have to reduce the bloated civil service. Getting our debt under control can not simply be raising taxes, that is lazy and easy. The pact we have with this government is that if you raise our taxes the civil service must be reduced. Period. If this does not happen I will help vote this government out that I presently support. Minister Turnquest promises this will happen, but in his own projections personal emoluments increase over the next three years, so he must be lying to the Bahamian people.

What world is this union leader living in? The Bahamian public is looking for the civil service to be reduced by 10-20% and he is asking for a salary increase! It is unfair and egregious to increase vat by 60% and not significantly reduce our bloated, inefficient civil service.

Make no mistake about it this is a massive tax increase. The impact has been somewhat mitigated on the poor through exemptions, but still likely an overall increase in taxes for even them. The middle class will have no such luck and will bear the brunt of this increase which not allowing for exemptions etc will bring in an extra 375 million per year.

I can live with this if the govt continues to downsize the civil service and our debt service ratios begin to fall. We have to get recurrent govt expenditure under control. Perhaps this saves us from devaluation down the road. If we are to bear this pain I want to see government downsized in a meaningful way. Otherwise the FNM will pay the price for this in the next general election.

I would prefer a national lottery, but realistically this does not have a snowball chance in hell of happening. Best bet ( pun intended) is to leave the status quo and limit profits to 10% or even 5%.

These web shops should be taxed to within an inch of their lives to pay for all the social ills they cause. If the port has a mandated profit margin of just 10% then why should the same not be expected of webshops who are a drain on taxpayers and a destroyer of family and community life. The government has full access to the data and accounts of the webshops so it is easy to regulate.

You are entitled to your ignorance but the facts are: Cable Bahamas IPO share price in 1994 was $1.00. Fact. I sold cable shares in 2015 for $8.34 after a 3 for 1 split equates to (8.34x3)= $25.02 per share. Fact. More than a 25 fold increase in 21 years. If you do not understand this math best of luck to you.

You appear to be financially illiterate. Which part of a 25 fold increase not including dividends do you not understand? Not a SINGLE small retail investor ( or any investor for that matter) who purchased cable shares for $1 at the IPO lost money. In the 24 years since then the share price has never traded below $1. So your statement is false. Most small retail investors especially those who held their shares for several years made a fantastic return.

Yes, and add to it the 9% in BTC shares Ingraham planned to offer the public if re-elected. Swept under the rug and abandoned by the PLP.

PLP administrations have done nothing to expand the shareholder base in this country, and this rigged plan they left to only offer shares in Aliv to select elite and not the average Bahamian should be abandoned. And the thinly veiled intimidation by Mr. Bowe should be ignored. These shares are very valuable and he knows it and that is why he has been pushing this rigged plan as well. Most financial opportunities in this country are reserved for an elite club and the average man is not in it. If this is offered as an IPO to the general public the offer will be oversubscribed so there is no rush, no fear of missing out. The FNM should abandon this rigged plan for the few and practice what they preach and empower Bahamians.

What are you talking about? Cable Bahamas did a great deal to increase the wealth of the small retail investor, it debuted with an IPO price of $1.00 and a little over 20 years later it topped out at a split adjusted price of $25 per share, that is over a 100% return every year not even factoring in dividends. The price has fallen tremendously since then but many small investors ( myself included) made a fortune off of cable. These shares should be offered in an IPO filled from the bottom up to ensure the greatest distribution of shares. This is one of the few ways for the small investor in this country to share in wealth generation. The legacy of the FNM through the port and cable IPO has been to empower Bahamians, they should do it again, rather than enriching the select few.