MEFD October 2016

Published: Tuesday November 29th, 2016

Domestic developments for the month of October were dominated by the passage of Hurricane Matthew, which resulted in significant damage to both private and public sector infrastructure in the main centres of New Providence and Grand Bahama. In this context, weather-related airline and cruise diversions, in addition to temporary hotel closures, tempered tourism sector activity during the period. The disruption to the construction sector was short-lived, as foreign investment projects and reconstruction work on homes and businesses resumed quickly after the storm’s passage. Expectations are that the storm will lead to further deterioration of the deficit, which expanded during the first three months of the FY2016/17, reflecting gains in spending, which outpaced growth in revenue. On the monetary front, an increase in Central Bank financing to the Government supported the growth in bank liquidity, while external reserves contracted, on account of the season uptick in foreign currency demand.

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