ThisIsOurs, I think the brown envelope to collect cash is much more effective than have a cash register at each post office.

Why have basic accounting internal controls like a cash register which is balanced out and closed everyday and all cash receipts deposited on a daily basis at the bank.

Its much easier just to collect the cash, don't give change and then use the cash for expenses. This is much easier because now you don't need to go to the bank.

Ohh, also, they don't accept checks unless they are certified and ohh, they don't accept credit or debit cards either.

cash only please.

This is a pandemic. no mail delievered. everyone gets to keep their jobs.

The US$600 million they just borrowed form foreigners at 9% when Bahamians are only getting 0% at the bank will easily cover these expenses.

We are in a state of emergency. No time to investigate hard working government employees. We are shut down to save lives.

Every year I pay my annual post office box fee for 40 years and the money is put into a legal sized light brown envelope and they never have any change for me. So I jokingly tell them to buy lunch with the change. Now I don't even get international mail since the pandemic started. OK, I better stop complaining...or else.

When its time for the hotels to open they will be bankrupt and there will be no money left for redundancy.

We borrow in the present and reform in the future.

Whatever happened to the Economic Committee recommendations. I guess that hope is being replaced with new finance reform laws sometimes in November when Covid 19 will be even stronger and the lock down tighter and the economy even weaker.

Is there any end to this hot air, any end to the debt or any end to the lack of reforms?

Bahamas and Shell (probably the worlds worst multinational) invests hundreds of millions into last centuries global warming high carbon foot print fossil fuel and zero in solar or renewable energy.

This agreement with Shell runs completely contrary to the global "Paris Agreement [whose] central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius." United Nations Climate Change.

C19 is child's play compared to the hurricanes and rising sea levels facing the Bahamas.

"Where there is no vision, the people [continue] to perish". Proverbs 29:18

Its most unfortunate that the largest employer, Sandals in Chester Cooper's constituency and the larger employer in San Sal, Club Med in Brave's constituency have both closed until "next year sometime".

It clear now that Minnis will become their savior with money from NI.

Also the government can readily borrow in the local B$ market. It needs to borrow to soak up the massive levels of liquidity due to businesses being closed. Any loans to the private sector will probably go bad.

The only fully functioning part of the Bahamian economy is the government and we all should be thankful to Minnis.

I think the government has a lots of excess borrowing capacity and will continue paying the civil service heading into the 2022 election season.

Our debt to GDP ratio is only 70%, most banana republics are above 100%.

So we have the capacity to borrow around $3 billion more. That’s at least 3 years worth of government payroll, travel and entertainment and “mismanagement “. The imf, oecd and IBD are only too happy to lend as the developed countries print money under QE.

Nothing to do with innovation, or restarting the economy or even feeding hungry Bahamians.

The prime beneficiaries of this new policy are the ERC constituency (lawyers/residency fees, government/taxes).

Please don’t look to the ERC for salvation.

It really looks bad that the first recommendation of the ERC doesn’t benefit the average Bahamian. The optics are horrible. But I guess these days the government doesn’t even care about optics when the society/economy is imploding. Every man for himself. God help us all.

Moncurcool, thank you for the counter argument and your perspective on the issues I raised.This is the type of 2 sided/views blogs that are constructive.