Monthly Economic and Financial Developments (MEFD) January 2025

Published: Monday March 3rd, 2025

Preliminary indications are that the domestic economy grew at a moderated pace in January, as compared to the same period in the previous year, converging closer to its expected medium-term growth potential. Tourism output reflected healthy, but moderated activity, as the high value-added stopover segment continued to experience capacity constraints. In price developments, average consumer price inflation, as measured by changes in the average Retail Price Index (RPI) for The Bahamas, declined in the eleven months to November 2024—the latest available data—owing to decreased price pressures from imported fuel and other goods and services. On the fiscal front, preliminary data on the Government’s budgetary operations for the second quarter of FY2024/25 showed that the deficit widened relative to the same quarter in FY2023/24, as the growth in aggregate expenditure outstripped the rise in total revenue. Monetary trends for January were marked by a reduction in banking sector liquidity, despite the growth in domestic credit trailing the buildup in the deposit base. However, external reserves expanded, underpinned by net foreign currency inflows through the private sector.

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