Dionisio D’Aguilar, the former tourism minister of the Bahamas, has raised concerns about the country's economic growth, stating that the projected 1% growth rate is inadequate to address the pressing employment demands in the nation. While he acknowledged that the economy has shown signs of improvement following the COVID-19 pandemic, he emphasized that employment figures have not kept pace with this recovery [fca2a65f].
According to the Bahamas National Statistical Institute, the unemployment rate has decreased to 8.7% in the first half of 2024, down 1.2 percentage points from previous figures. However, the total number of employed persons in the first quarter of 2024 was reported at 213,585, which reflects a slight decrease compared to the fourth quarter of 2023 [fca2a65f]. D’Aguilar criticized the government's growth projection, arguing that it falls short of what is necessary to absorb the influx of new entrants into the workforce, thereby failing to create sufficient job opportunities [fca2a65f].
In response to critics disparaging the Bahamian economy and tourism sector, Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper emphasized the importance of tourism as the economic lifeblood of the Bahamas, supporting thousands of families. He labeled a recent misleading video about safety in The Bahamas as 'reckless and irresponsible' and highlighted that visitor arrivals, including stopover arrivals, are on the rise, with 2023 being the best year ever for tourism [bdab3968].
Cooper also discussed the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT) Bill, which targets large multinational corporations with revenues exceeding 750 million euros (approximately $818 million). He argued that the DMTT ensures fair tax contributions from these corporations, thereby protecting the Bahamian tax base [bdab3968]. The ongoing challenges in the labor market and the need for more robust economic policies underscore the urgency for the Bahamian government to reassess its strategies to ensure that economic recovery translates into meaningful employment for its citizens [fca2a65f].