There should not be, for one moment, a suggestion by anyone who is semi-educated that the true state of the Bahamian economy is not in a precarious and dangerous situation.
The financial experts, the bank managers, the Central Bank, and the billionaire web shop owners do not for one moment care much about any financial statistic other than their own portfolios.
Judging by the sordid political situation in The Bahamas, one can be relatively certain that there is very little truth in what is said out loud by anyone in a position of power.
Truthfulness has not visited our country in a long, long time.
The average person, the vast majority of our Bahamian population will continue to see growing economic, social, and political turmoil as reality sets in and they are no longer able to simply pay their monthly bills, while the financial class continues to sing bird songs to the trees.
Truth and honesty have left these shores some decades ago.
Hold on to your hats.
So, please Mr. Neil Hartnell, publish the amount of money leaving these shores each and every year to simply service our debt. Don't add anything. Just show us what we are spending on our credit card as the minimum payment. Each and every year.

So, let's get this right. As I read this article, which I believe can be understood by 1 out of every 50,000 Bahamians, we learn, albeit in cryptic form, that the banking sector is doing great, while the national economy is sliding downhill.
"The Central Bank of The Bahamas, unveiling its quarterly economic review for the three months to end-June 2025, said the sector also enjoyed an improvement in its profitability ratios as gross earnings margins rose by 0.59 percent as a percentage of average assets."
So, the banks "enjoyed an improvement in its profitability", interesting language, while the overall Bahamian economy did worse.
"However, commission and foreign exchange fees more than doubled to $45.6m from $19.8m in the comparable period last year, contributing to a $24m (14.2 percent) rise in the gross earnings margin to $192.8m"
"Banks’ net income increased by $6.4m (5.3 percent) to $126.8m as compared to the same period of 2024, largely attributed to a strengthening in commission and foreign exchange income,” the industry regulator disclosed. Meaning that they made more money by simply charging us more for their services.
We could also fairly summarize that overall, the Bahamian people, the vast majority of us, saw their wages stagnate while prices for goods and services definitely are increasing, especially BOB's charges to their customers.
What I would like to see published in the Tribune by Mr. Hartnell, is the amount of money leaving The Bahamas each and every year solely to service the debt for the loans already taken out in our, and our children's name.
This would be a more important number than the colorful, if only slightly honest words coming from the Central Bank, and then parroted by Mr. Hartnell.

This isn't newsworthy.
Everyone knows that Miller has little intelligence, less class and a poor upbringing.
What should be noteworthy is how did we go so low as a country that we continue to elect cretins such as this to political office.
However, he does fit right in to the PLP political buffoonery.

What percent of the Bahamian population has anything left over at the end of the month?
What percent are middle class?
What percent are in poverty?
How much money leaves these shores each year to solely service our debt?
Simple questions my Christian investors.

We live in a world where character no longer matters.
So long as we invest wisely..................................
No reward for arguing with fools.

No, not an attack on the messenger.
None of my concerns were addressed.
Were they?
Yes, if you know people have started broke and ended up rich is a statistical accident, if you are serious about numbers.
Quit defending a sordid, dog eat dog system.
The trend is a growing disparity between rich and poor. Here in The Bahamas and globally.
Is this fair? Is this Christian?
EVERY social indicator for a "good life" fails under rising inequality.
This IS the trend, and has been for quite some time.
Not because those at the top are working smarter, but because the system is rigged.
Every educated, honest person can understand this.
I follow the words of Martin Luther King Jr. when he said we need "a radical revolution of values".
We live in a country that cannot provide decent services of any kind to benefit Bahamians.
This country is crumbling under the weight of indebtedness.
This is simple math.
We do not take care of our own. Period.
But, in sure many of the richest Bahamians, no matter how they got their money, hustle into church every Saturday and Sunday, so that we can see that they are good Christians.

So, Bahamians must "create real wealth" even though only a handful of Bahamians are not living paycheck to paycheck. Interesting.
But, little to say about the waste fraud, and utter abuse of our national treasure by do-nothing obese politicians who are robbing this country blind?
Nothing to say about the ability of an average Bahamian to make a comfortable living by actually producing something of value at a reasonable wage?
Has BOB paid back ALL its losses? Yet, now it is profitable? Please!
Was BOB treated any differently than any other business in The Bahamas?
Answer: Yes. Usually when a Bahamian business goes bankrupt, they don't get bailed out.
What percentage of the Bahamian population owns stock?
What percentage of the Bahamian population owns stock?
So, the only way to "wealth" is by investing? Not, by working hard?
Have BOB line employees seen an increase in their salaries, commensurate with this new found BOB prosperity? Yes, or no?
Why cannot BOB pay their employees a really good wage, thus encouraging them to invest and to save?
What is the average salary of a BOB teller?
Have all the politicians who took out loans from BOB paid them back in their entirety?
How does a person who remains so aloof from average Bahamians get to have a say in the political process? Money, and money alone! For himself.
If we wanted more money circulating and stimulating the Bahamian economy, shouldn't those who spend the greatest portion of their money into the Bahamian economy be a priority?
Any first year economics student knows that the multiplier effect of giving a rich person a dollar is much lower than giving it to a poor person.
Meaning that while we have to import teachers, nurses and doctors, because we pay our own so frigging little that they flee this country, is OK.
But our first priority should be to encourage the rich to invest wisely? is this a sound national economic strategy?
If money is the only criteria to speak on important economic matters, perhaps we could
find a few others, some maybe in jail, for making lots of money. This is where we are as a country. We listen to people with money no matter if they are a decent person, or a web shop owner, or not.
How do you get the name Snake as a national moniker?

Why is the government slow to pay so often?
Perhaps those at the top need to be held accountable.
How can a government who is slow to pay for what they've already received in goods and services.be taken seriously?
They can't.

You did.
birdie is an ignorant PLP boot licker.
No brains. Just posting 2nd grade nonsense.
A true, true idiot.

I agree, but I think the real consequences of this under-investment in education has already taken a very dangerous toll.
It goes well beyond productivity.
First off, we have to care.
I fail to see any real national concern.
If there was a real concern for education, we would see more educated adults.
There is no age limit to learning.
We have little to no spark among our people.
The business side of this "poor educational outcomes" is only one, and among the least overall in importance.
The social consequences of a poor education are in plain sight, yet we fail to make the connections.