Remarks
The Most Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnis Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Bahamas Business Outlook 2021
Thursday, 14 January 2021
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Good Morning.
It has been a longstanding custom for the prime minister to address the annual Bahamas Business Outlook. I am pleased to have continued this tradition over the past several years.
For an impressive 30 years now, this forum has served as an opportunity to review the economic and business outlook and prospects for a new year.
Still, we know from experience, that despite the best-laid plans and projections, unpredictable events often outstrip even the best intentions and estimations.
That was true for 2019, with the unprecedented devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian.
It was true again in 2020, with the worst global pandemic in our lifetime, which has caused millions of deaths and the worst economic devastation since the Great Depression.
Before Hurricane Dorian and the pandemic, the Bahamas economy was recovering and growing.
Our real GDP growth, which slowed as a result of Hurricane Dorian, contracted even further because of this deadly virus.
Ladies and Gentlemen: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government’s leading priority is to save lives.
We were determined to care for the social needs of the Bahamian people.
We also put in place emergency economic measures, which I noted in my New Year’s Address this past Tuesday.
I also announced, a consultative COVID-19 vaccine committee, headed by Dr. Merceline Dahl-Regis. To restore our public and economic health, vaccinations are vital and critical.
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