And that number is a chimera because it comes from inflation due to VAT and government taxes rather than organic growth from economic business activity.

I take exception to Mr. Jennings statements about a credit bureau requiring four or five years before a credit bureau can be operational. Obviously Mr. Jennings is unaware of advances in modern fintech or financial technology, Big Data Analytics, Data Mining and credit risk algorithms to determine creditworthiness.

The way that it is done is simple. A database of credit grantors (furniture stores, banks, Kelly's, etc) is established. Obviously the number is very small. These institutions can report their client lists, defaults, etc and it can be fed into the database using modern data methods (ETL - Extract-Transfer-Load) from such diverse computer sources as text files, excel spreadsheets etc.

Then data mining tools and risk algorithms can be applied to create a credit risk profile using such diverse parameters such a geographic neighbourhood, number of immediate family members living with them, and various socio-economic features. Such algorithms can create accurate models of credit risk with very little individual data. It is obvious that the bankers need to go back to school and learn modern methods instead of sticking to their colonial knowledge base that is quite outmoded.

Fintech in the Bahamas needs a disruption to free the people from these troglodytes running these antiquated institutions -- Central Bank included.

I too have made the decision to quit the country at the end of the month - although not because of the dump -- because we Bahamians are incapable of controlling themselves and properly running a country. I have applied for and won a permanent job abroad and will be applying for citizenship there at the earliest possible time as soon as I am qualified to do so. My comments on this site will be very infrequent, if at all.

In Dante's Divine Comedy, the gate of Hell bears an inscription ending with the famous phrase "Abandon all hope, ye who enter." There is no hope left in the Bahamaland.

What Rolle said is a bunch of incoherent nonsense. Devaluation will come not from one day someone decides that monetary policy would benefit a floating dollar, as Rolle seems to suggest.

Rather devaluation would in all likelihood, come from external pressure of foreign lenders to increase the US dollar reserves in the Bahamas or face devaluation. The government has already borrowed money to buttress the reserves, and if the debt keeps rising, and they need the money for debt support and don't have it or can't borrow any more, then there will be huge pressure to devalue the Bahamian dollar.

For years the government has "borrowed domestically" from sources such as the NIB funds. If the government defaults on those notes to the NIB, then scores and scores of common folks, like the aged and retired will suffer tremendously.

The Bahamas is currently on the brink of a precipice with its deficits and national debt, and Rolle speaks as if he were running a switcher stand.

Nice diversion from Baha Mar, failed state, VAT, Deficit, downgrade, crime and corruption.

Although the most hilarious thing about this, is wanting to kill Neil Hartnell. He is the only business reporter in the whole wide world who wears sneakers when interviewing business people. Killing him would accomplish nothing, except getting more spelling errors in the business news. Besides, who else would take over his patented feature generation technique - phoning random people from his rolodex for a comment?

They both have had the chip implant - the PLP 666 brain hijack virus.

Dunno: I have an appendix-removal scar that is an inch and a half long. Done at Johns Hopkins when I was traveling on business. The scar now is barely visible - just a thin line in the skin.

45 staples in your gut isn't worth faking it. Sent the link to a physician friend. He says that the incision is in the wrong place. Experienced surgeons find the spot "McBurney's point" by placing a thumb on the hip bone and the second finger (the up-yours finger) into the naval, and folding down the pointing first finger in the middle. Where the first finger lands is the exact point and direction of the incision called the McBurney's point, and it should be no longer than the first two joints of the finger.

My physician friend said that it is a complete hack job. Probably given to an intern, resident or junior doctor to gain some practice.

It's awfully hard to fake stitches and staples.

Many police officers are the beneficial owners of jitneys and rent them out to operators.