Bahamian PM announces plans to boost economic growth

Bahamian Prime Minister Perry Christie on Monday announced plans to establish a National Economic Council and financial reforms in order to "maximize economic growth" in 2014. Addressing the annual Bahamas Business Outlook in Nassau, Christie said the Bahamas was facing a "daunting" task to grow, because "the adverse external economic conditions have particularly impacted three major components of Bahamian economy, tourism, financial services and international shipping." He said the new council would be appointed soon to "keep the economy under constant review and to advise the government on ways to grow and sustain the economy." Meanwhile, Christie called for comprehensive reform of public finances to reinforce expenditure discipline and improve the government's revenue collection. "The government has established for itself a target of gradually reducing total spending relative to the size of the economy over the next few years," he said. However, he reassured areas such as education, health, national security, poverty alleviation and infrastructure would remain priority areas. The Bahamas was rated the wealthiest Caribbean Community country by the World Bank last month, with GDP per capita topping 20,000 U.S. dollars. However, its over reliance on tourism and offshore banking, which accounts for nearly 60 percent of GDP, makes the economy extremely vulnerable to external shocks.