The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is predicting The Bahamas will undergo a gradual recovery following a deep contraction as it continues to wrestle two unprecedented economic shocks.
The IMF’s report reinforces the government’s assessment of a prolonged recovery that “will take time to restore employment levels and economic output to pre-crisis levels.”
“Driven by the sharp drop in tourism and the necessary public health containment measure, the IMF projects a decline in real GDP by about 16.2 per cent in 2020, followed by a modest rebound of two per cent in 2021, the Ministry of Finance noted in a release.
By 2025, the report predicts that GDP levels will converge back to its pre-pandemic position.”
The government meantime stresses that it will continue to do what is necessary to mitigate the shock of the pandemic, set the stage for a robust recovery of the domestic economy, prioritize public spending, adopt fiscal consolidation measures to contain expenditure and accelerate policy and legislative reforms that increase operational efficiencies and facilitate business economic growth and expansion.
If all goes as planned, the government will present in its 2020 Fiscal Strategy Report this month.
