Domestic Economic Developments in The Bahamas

The Central Bank of The Bahamas -Monthly Economic and Financial Developments (MEFD) May 2025

Published: Monday June 30th, 2025

Domestic Economic Developments

Overview

Preliminary indications are that the domestic economy’s pace of growth moderated during May 2025, relative to the same period last year, as performance continued to move closer to their expected medium-term potential.  Tourism inflows, although at healthy levels, rose at a slower pace, owing to capacity constraints in the high value-added stopover category, albeit the cruise sector remained buoyant.  In price developments, average consumer price inflation posted a flat outturn during the 12 months to March 2025, relative to the comparative 2024 period, underpinned by reduced cost pressures from imported fuel and other goods and services.  Monetary sector developments featured a buildup in banking sector liquidity, as the accumulation in the deposit base exceeded the growth in domestic credit.  In contrast, external reserves decreased, mainly attributed to a rise in net foreign currency outflows through the public sector.

Real Sector

Tourism

Initial data indicated that during the review month, the gains tourism sector earnings slowed, as activity in the stopover segment remained constrained by accommodation capacity.  However, the cruise segment maintained its healthy pace of growth.

Preliminary data from the Nassau Airport Development Company Limited (NAD) revealed that total departure—net of domestic passenger—declined by 3.2% to 133,397 in May, relative to the same 2024 period.  Underlying this outcome, U.S departures fell by 3.7% to 113,984, and non-US international departures, by 0.6% to 19,413, vis-à-vis the corresponding period last year.

On a year-to-date basis, total outbound traffic decreased by 2.3% to 0.7 million.  Specifically, U.S departures reduced by 2.8% to 0.6 million, relative to the comparative 2024 period.  Contrastingly, non-US departures grew by 0.7% to 0.1 million compared to a year earlier.

In the short-term vacation rental market, data provided by AirDNA showed that in May, total room nights sold rose by 5.0% to 66,830 vis-à-vis the corresponding period in the prior year.  The average daily room rate (ADR) firmed for entire place listings by 10.4% to $571.89 relative to the comparative period of 2024, and by 1.3% to $189.16 for hotel comparable listings.  However, given the inventory boost, average occupancy rates for entire place listings decreased to 44.1% from 47.3% a year earlier.  Likewise, hotel comparable listings declined to 43.5% from 47.7% in the preceding year.  On a year-to-date basis, total room nights sold grew by 10.7% and the average daily rates on entire place and hotel comparable listings, by 8.6% and 3.6%, respectively.

2025/2026 Budget Communications Highlights

The Government’s Budget Communication for FY2025/2026 was presented to Parliament on May 28, 2025 under the theme “Expanding Opportunities, Island by Island”, and approved by the end of June.  The Government’s announced an agenda aimed at prioritizing enhanced food and national security, offsetting the rising costs of living, upgrading public infrastructure, protecting the environment and advancing education and employment.

In the 2025/26 Budget, the Government plans to strengthen its fiscal position by improving revenue collection efficiency to counterbalance a targeted tax relief strategy.  In this regard, the budget forecasts a revenue intake of $3.9 billion for FY2025/26, compared to the projected $3.5 billion in FY2024/25.

With regard to revenue measures, no general increase in taxes nor fees were scheduled for FY2025/26.  Measures to increase tax proceeds largely focused on enhancing collection efficiency, and bolstering tax compliance.

Heightened efforts concentrated on strengthening tax compliance from cruise liners.  Measures to improve collection efficiency include the introduction of the Frequent Visitors Digital Card (FVDC) initiative, aimed at expediting the immigration process for frequent leisure travelers arriving by private vessel or aircraft.

To increase non-tax proceeds, the Budget introduces a series of targeted fees to protect the marine environment, such as an environmental levy on seabed leases and fines for unsafe marine operations.  In addition, the Government foreshadowed the establishment of a Maritime Revenue Unit to support compliance, with expanded enforcement powers granted to relevant authorities.

Further, the Government outlined a series of tax relief measures to offset rising living costs.  Notably, a reduction in the VAT rate to 5.0% was announced for a range of essential products, such as medical and dental supplies, prescription and non-prescription drugs, and basic hygiene products.  In addition, concessions included the extension of VAT relief on building materials for religious institutions, the planned reduction or removal of customs duties for several household hardware items, and the elimination of excise duty on butane fuel used for cooking. To encourage the adoption of cleaner technology, the budget also offered duty exemptions for energy efficient appliances.

Aligning with the Government’s goal to create employment opportunities, the Budget introduced the Business Development Incentives Program Act to offer tax-related benefits to large firms investing in local job creation, training, and sustainable development.

To promote equity in the Real Property Tax system, Parliament approved that, foreign homeowners would qualify for the owner-occupied exemption on properties valued up to $300,000, with partial exemption granted after 90 days of residency and full exemption after 183 days.

As it pertains to Government spending, expenditure was projected at $3.8 billion for FY2025/26, surpassing the $3.6 billion estimate in FY2024/2025. Recurrent outlays were expected to reach $3.4 billion, vis-à-vis the $3.3 billion approximation in FY2024/2025. Capital spending was forecasted at $376.3 million, higher than the $344.5 million estimate in 2024/2025.  With regard to major expenditure measures, the Government outlined numerous planned infrastructure projects across the archipelago, inclusive of roadworks, school and clinic repairs, aviation enhancements and expansions, upgrades to water systems and improving drainage in flood-prone areas.  As it relates to public safety, the Budget included allotments to enhance emergency services infrastructure.  The Government also provisioned funds for the upgrade of law enforcement technology, the construction of new facilities and for new recruits.  For the judicial system, the Budget allocated funds to expand the Virtual Courts platform.

Targeting food security, the Budget increased the overall agriculture allocation to $35.0 million from $25.0 million. Notably, the Government planned to raise its commitments to Bahamian farmers and provision for the creation of a new Centre for Food and Nutrition Security, to drive innovation, research, and policy development.  In addition, $9.0 million was earmarked to outfit the Golden Yolk Project with new poultry housing and an egg processing facility.  Further, the Government signaled plans to support construction of hydroponic farms on several islands to modernize farming techniques.

In terms of entrepreneurship, the Government proposed allotments for targeted programs through the Small Business Development Center and the Bahamas Development Bank. For education, proposed investments include $2.6 million for the National Maritime Academy, expanded support for BAMSI and BTVI, and scholarships for university students.  Further, the Government provisioned for the launch of The Bahamas Polytechnic Accreditation and Training Hub, alongside the Upskill program, to strengthen technical and vocational pathways through paid online and in-person certification courses.

Based on the current economic outlook, the Government anticipates a fiscal surplus of $75.5 million, or 0.5% of GDP for FY2025/2026, as compared to the projected $69.8 million deficit (0.4% of GDP) for FY2024/25. Given the projections, a reduction in the direct debt charge was forecasted, alongside a decrease in the corresponding ratio to GDP.

Prices

Average consumer price inflation—as measured by the All-Bahamas Retail Price Index—was relatively flat during the 12 months to March 2025, following a 2.4% increase in the comparative 2024 period.  Contributing to this development, average costs declined for clothing & footwear, by 1.9% and housing, water, gas, electricity & other fuels, by 1.3%, after recording respective increases of 0.2% and 4.7% in the same period last year. Likewise, average prices decreased for recreation & culture, by 0.6% and restaurant & hotels, by 0.3%, following the prior year gains of 1.7% and 3.4%, respectively.  In addition, average inflation moderated for furnishing, household equipment & routine household maintenance (2.7%); food & non-alcoholic beverages (2.4%); miscellaneous goods & services (2.3%); alcoholic beverages tobacco & narcotics (1.8%); education (1.7%); and health (1.7%). Providing some offset, the reduction in average prices slowed for communications (3.5%) and transport (1.6%).

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The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) Abides in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba - for a Change?

Regime Change in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba is on The U.S. Agenda

US Reinstates Funding to Propaganda Outlet: NED - Weaponizes “Democracy” in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba

By John Perry and Roger D. Harris

The brief freeze and rapid partial reinstatement of National Endowment for Democracy (NED) funding in early 2025 helped expose it as a US regime-change tool.  Created to rebrand CIA covert operations as “democracy promotion,” the NED channels government funds to opposition groups in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, meddling in their internal affairs.

Regime change on the US agenda

In 2018, Kenneth Wollack bragged to the US Congress that the NED had given political training to 8,000 young Nicaraguans, many of whom were engaged in a failed attempt to overthrow Nicaragua’s Sandinista government.  Wollack was praising the “democracy-promotion” work carried out by NED, of which he is now vice-chair.  Carl Gershman, then president of the NED and giving evidence, was asked about Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega, who had been re-elected with an increased majority two years prior.  He responded: “Time for him to go.”

Seven years later, Trump took office and it looked as if the NED’s future was endangered.  On February 12, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under Elon Musk froze disbursement of its congressionally approved funds.  Its activities stopped and its website went blank.  On February 24, Richard Grenell, special envoy to Venezuela, declared that “Donald Trump is someone who does not want to make regime changes.”

Washington’s global regime-change operations were immediately impacted and over 2,000 paid US collaborating organizations temporarily defunded.  A Biden-appointed judge warned of “potentially catastrophic harm” to (not in her words) US efforts to overturn foreign governments.  The howl from the corporate press was deafening.  The Associated Press cried: “‘Beacon of freedom’ dims as US initiatives that promote democracy abroad wither.”

However, the pause lasted barely a month.  On March 10, funding was largely reinstated.  The NED, which “deeply appreciated” the State Department’s volte face, then made public its current program which, in Latin America and the Caribbean alone, includes over 260 projects costing more than $40 million.

US “soft power”

Created in 1983 under President Ronald Reagan following scandals involving the CIA’s covert funding of foreign interventions, the NED was to shift such operations into a more publicly palatable form under the guise of “democracy promotion.”  As Allen Weinstein, NED’s first acting president, infamously admitted in 1991: “A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.”  In short, NED functions as a “soft power arm” of US foreign policy.

The NED disingenuously operates as a 501(c)(3) private nonprofit foundation.  However, it is nearly 100% funded by annual appropriations from the US Congress and governed mainly by Washington officials or ex-officials.  In reality, it is an instrument of the US state—and, arguably, of the so-called deep state.  But its quasi-private status shields it from many of the disclosure requirements that typically apply to taxpayer-funded agencies.

Hence we encounter verbal gymnastics such as those in its “Duty of Care and Public Disclosure Policies.”   That document loftily proclaims: “NED holds itself to high standards of transparency and accountability.”  Under a discussion of its “legacy” (with no mention of its CIA pedigree), the NGO boasts: “Transparency has always been central to NED’s identity.”

But it continues, “…transparency for oversight differs significantly from transparency for public consumption.”  In other words, it is transparent to the State Department but not to the public.  The latter are only offered what it euphemistically calls a “curated public listing of grants” – highly redacted and lacking in specific details.

NED enjoys a number of advantages by operating in the nether region between an accountable US government agency and a private foundation.  It offers plausible deniability: the US government can use it to support groups doing its bidding abroad without direct attribution, giving Washington a defense from accusations of interference in the internal affairs of other countries.  It is also more palatable for foreign institutions to partner with what is ostensibly an NGO, rather than with the US government itself.

The NED can also respond quickly if regime-change initiatives are needed in countries on Washington’s enemy list, circumventing the usual governmental budgeting procedures.  And, as illustrated during that congressional presentation in 2018 on Nicaragua, NED’s activities are framed as supporting democracy, human rights, and civil society.  It cynically invokes universal liberal values while promoting narrow Yankee geopolitical interests.  Thus its programs are sold as altruistic rather than imperial, and earn positive media headlines like the one from the AP cited above.

But a look at NED’s work in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba suggests very much the opposite.

Venezuela

Venezuela had passed an NGO Oversight Law in 2024.  Like the US’s Foreign Agents Registration Act, but somewhat less restrictive, the law requires certification of NGOs.  As even the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) – an inside-the-beltway promoter of US imperialism with a liberal gloss –  admits: “Many Venezuelan organizations receiving US support have not been public about being funding recipients.”

The pace of Washington’s efforts in Venezuela temporarily slowed with the funding pause, as US-funded proxies had to focus on their own survival.  Venezuelan government officials, cheering the pause, viewed the NED’s interference in their internal affairs as a violation of Venezuelan sovereignty.  In contrast, the US-funded leader of the far-right opposition, Maria Corina Machado, begged for international support to make up for the shortfall from Washington.

WOLA bemoaned that the funding freeze allowed the “Maduro government to further delegitimize NGOs” paid by the US. Hundreds of US-funded organizations, they lamented, “now face the grim choice of going underground, relocating abroad, or shutting down operations altogether.”

With the partial reinstatement of funding, now bankrolling at least 39 projects costing $3.4 million, former US senator and present NED board member Mel Martinez praised the NED for its “tremendous presence in Venezuela… supporting the anti-Maduro movement.”

Nicaragua

Leading up to the 2018 coup attempt, the NED had funded 54 projects worth over $4 million.  Much of this went to support supposedly “independent” media, in practice little more than propaganda outlets for Nicaragua’s opposition groups.  Afterward, the NED-funded online magazine Global Americans revealed that the NED had “laid “the groundwork for insurrection” in Nicaragua.

One of the main beneficiaries, Confidencial, is owned by the Chamorro family, two of whose members later announced intentions to stand in Nicaragua’s 2021 elections.  The family received well over $5 million in US government funding, either from the NED or directly from USAID (now absorbed into the State Department).  In 2022, Cristiana Chamorro, who handled much of this funding, was found guilty of money laundering.  Her eight-year sentence was commuted to house arrest; after a few months she was given asylum in the US.

Of the 22 Nicaragua-related projects which NED has resumed funding, one third sponsor “independent” media.  While the recipients’ names are undisclosed, it is almost certain that this funding is either for outlets like Confidencial (now based in Costa Rica), or else is going direct to leading opponents of the Sandinista government to pay for advertisements currently appearing in Twitter and other social media.

Cuba

In Latin America, Cuba is targeted with the highest level of NED spending – $6.6 million covering 46 projects.  One stated objective is to create “a more well-informed, critically minded citizenry,” which appears laughable to anyone who has been to Cuba and talked to ordinary people there – generally much better informed about world affairs than a typical US citizen.

Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez criticized the NED’s destabilizing activities, such as financing 54 anti-Cuba organizations since 2017.  He advised the US administration to review “how many in that country [the US] have enriched themselves organizing destabilization and terrorism against Cuba with support from that organization.”

Washington not only restored NED funding for attacks on Cuba but, on May 15, added Cuba to the list of countries that “do not fully cooperate with its anti-terrorist efforts.”

The NED: Covert influence in the name of democracy

Anyone with a basic familiarity with Washington’s workings is likely to be aware of the NED’s covert role.  Yet the corporate media – behaving as State Department stenographers and showing no apparent embarrassment – have degenerated to the point where they regularly portray the secretly funded NED outlets as “independent” media serving the targeted countries.

Case in point: Washington Post columnist Max Boot finds it “sickening” that Trump is “trying [to] end US government support for democracy abroad.”  He is concerned because astroturf “democracy promotion groups” cannot exist without the flow of US government dollars.  He fears the “immense tragedy” of Trump’s executive order to cut off funding (now partially reinstated) for the US Agency for Global Media, the parent agency of the Voice of America, Radio Marti, and other propaganda outlets.

Behind the moralistic appeals to democracy promotion and free press is a defense of the US imperial project to impose itself on countries such as Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba.  Those sanctioned countries, targeted for regime change, need free access to food, fuel, medicines and funding for development.  They don’t need to hear US propaganda beamed to them or generated locally by phonily “independent” media.

- Roger D. Harris is with the Task Force on the Americas, the US Peace Council, and the Venezuela Solidarity Network.

- Nicaragua-based John Perry is with the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition and writes for MR Online, the London Review of Books, FAIR and CovertAction, among others.

Source

The expulsion of Haitians from the Dominican Republic raises serious humanitarian and human rights concerns - particularly when they involve pregnant Haitian women or mothers with very young children

Haiti Humanitarian Country Team deeply concerned about the deportation of pregnant and breastfeeding women from the Dominican Republic

Humanitarian Crisis in Haiti

The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) in Haiti expresses deep concern over the rising number of pregnant and breastfeeding women being deported from the Dominican Republic to Haiti, in violation of international standards.

According to the latest data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), nearly 20,000 individuals — including a growing number of highly vulnerable women — were deported by land in April 2025, marking a record number for a one-month period.  At the Belladère and Ouanaminthe border crossings, the National Office for Migration (ONM) and IOM, in coordination with other partners, have assisted an average of 15 pregnant women and 15 breastfeeding mothers per day since 22 April.

“It is imperative that commitments to protecting vulnerable populations are upheld.  These expulsions raise serious humanitarian and human rights concerns, particularly when they involve pregnant women or mothers with very young children,” said Ulrika Richardson, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti.

These deportations compound an already complex humanitarian crisis affecting millions of people across the country.  Armed violence in several regions has displaced more than one million individuals.

In addition, food insecurity continues to worsen nationwide.  Over 5.7 million people — half the population — are currently facing acute food insecurity, with pockets of near-famine conditions.

In response to this situation, United Nations agencies and their humanitarian partners, in coordination with Haitian authorities, are mobilizing to address the most urgent needs — including through the provision of safe drinking water, adapted hygiene kits, medical care, temporary shelter, psychosocial support, and food assistance.

The Humanitarian Country Team in Haiti calls for migration policies that uphold human dignity and urges enhanced regional solidarity to address a crisis that transcends borders and endangers the rights and lives of thousands.

Source

For more information, please contact: Claire-Emmanuelle Pressoir, Public Information Officer, OCHA Haiti, Port-au-Prince

claire.pressoir@un.org 

This article first appeared in Haiti | ReliefWeb

Captain IBRAHIM TRAORE needs more than just Cheerleaders!

Let's Use our Platforms to Support Capt. Ibrahim Traore and become virtual citizens of the Burkina Faso Global Massive

STOP TALKING ABOUT IBRAHIM TRAORE AND TAKE ACTION!

By Professor Gilbert Morris

Nassau, NP, The Bahamas

African and Caribbean people are delusional and talk too much!

Who cannot love Capt. Ibrahim Traore…when he embodies all we have longed for against both colonialists and our own post-colonial leaders.

But with all that is arrayed against him…why all the celebration and constant feckless barking…vainglorious noise-making!

We have no understanding of power and none of the people speaking loudest and celebrating pan-African nonsense have the power to help him.

He is living under threat for his life: he needs more than cheerleaders.

What Traore needs is time…but there is none.  Those who wish to end his regime are working every angle, whilst his fans are thinking their incessant barking and insipid noise-making is action!

Shut up so he may work in silence.  Don’t poke the imperialist bear until he has had the chance to steel his country against the imperialists who are now trying to defeat him.  Let him go dark and emerge in 300 days having strengthened his defences through deals.

Use your platform to reveal and shame every imperialist who threatens him.  Make sure every post has 100 million likes and shares.

That is action!

You want to make a real practical difference:

1. Create a fund.

2. Use an African app.

3. Raise money for schools and medical care in Burkina Faso.

Everyone…give money to this cause and let’s make ourselves virtual citizens of the Burkina Faso Global Massive!

Support with systems, not talk!

Source / Comment

Intelisys Limited, I Have no Business With You!

Intelisys Limited Has become a Collections Goon for Sunshine Finance

Heartless Usurers and Their Dumb Minions in The Bahamas

NASSAU, NP, THE BAHAMAS: I, DENNIS ARTHUR DAMES - Citizen of The Commonwealth Of The Bahamas - DO NOT HAVE ANY BUSINESS WITH INTELISYS LIMITED; and I DID NOT AUTHORIZED SUNSHINE FINANCE LIMITED TO SHARE MY BUSINESS - WHICH IS UNDER JUDGEMENT OF THE HIGH COURTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS - WITH  INTELISYS LIMIITED - (SEE: CLE/gen/01441).

I WAS NOT INFORMED, or CONTACTED by a SOUL AT SUNSHINE F 6INANCE LIMITED ABOUT ANY SORT OF ARRANGEMENT WITH INTELISYS LIMITED - OR ANY OTHER THIRD PARTY ENTITY FOR THAT MATTER.

THE HACKS FROM INTELISYS LTD HAVE MADE CONTACT WITH ME UNCEREMONIOUSLY IN FEBRUARY 2025 via WHATSAPP - WITHOUT WARNING OR NOTICE FROM ANY REPRESENTATIVE OF SUNSHINE FINANCE LTD.

Further, I have never received a receipt or declining balance from Sunshine Finance - since the COURT JUDGEMENT relating to: CLE/gen/01441); eventhough I have been making very consistent monthly payments since the aforementioned Court Judgement of 18 May, 2022 - via their RBC Bank Account #056252816783.  This in itself is a gross violation of their (SUNSHINE FINANCE) fiduciary duties - I humbly submit.

Additionallty communications along the way between SUNSHINE FINANCE and DENNIS ARTHUR DAMES - since the aforementioned JUDGEMENT DAY - were totally scanty.  This too is unacceptable and clearly shows their (Sunshine Finance) merciless indifference toward a wretched and poor customer - namely:  DENNIS ARTHUR DAMES.

When I was served the summons to appear in court for the subject matter, the good female police officer indicated to me that: "They (Sunshine Finance) said  that they could not find me."  Nothing could be further from the truth.  I have lived in the same community of Mt. Pleasant Village since 1974, and my phone number: 1-242-552-9595 has never been disabled for any long period.  It's the same address and phone contact which were provided in the subject loan contract.  This is another example of Sunshine Finance operating in bad faith towards a well-intentioned customer - namely: DENNIS ARTHUR DAMES.

I SUBMIT THAT THIS IS PERSECUTION,  CROOKEDNESS, WICKEDNESS, CORPORATE RECKLESSNESS and IRRESPONSIBILITY - WHICH IS A CLEAR VIOLATION OF MY CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS - AS I HAVE BEEN ACTING IN GOOD FAITH ALL ALONG.  SUNSHINE FINANCE IS OPERATING ABOVE THE LAWS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS - IN MY SINCERE OPINION!

I, demand to be treated respectfully and honourably accordings to the laws of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, and I will reject all uncouth, discourteous, slanderous, illegal, bullying, vctimizing, insulting, degrading, unprofessional, and persecuting correspondance from anyone like:

'Intelisys Limited                       

Caves Village                 

Nassau, Bahamas

Phone: 242-327-4001/

May 7, 2025

Dames, Dennis                           

Dennis Dames                                                   

Mount Pleasant #9       

Nassau, N.P, Bahamas

Re: CLIENT: Sunshine Finance LTD.                                         

        Account Number: 9942

        Amount Due: $7,710.45

Please be advised that Sunshine Finance Ltd., has appointed and authorized Intelisys Limited ("Intelisys") to collect the outstanding subject amount owed to them. You are receiving this letter from Intelisys because there are unpaid obligations due and owing to Sunshine Finance LTD. .

It is important that this letter and the contents of all communications from Intelisys to you receive your prompt and careful attention. More specifically, the following is advised:

All instructions provided to you from Intelisys regarding payment of all principal, interest and other incidental charges for late payment reflected on your account are to be strictly followed in a timely manner.

All future correspondence and communications from you regarding your account must be directed to Intelisys as follow:

Intelisys

#2 Caves Professional Centre

West Bay Street and Blake Road

P.O. Box SP 64064

Nassau, Bahamas

Telephone: (242) 327 4001/3

Via Return Email: mroker@intelisysltd.com                        

Sincerely,

Michelle D Roker'

- TAG TEAM COLLECTORS of THE BAHAMAS: it's now Sunshine Finance time to persecute and dishohour my precious wretched soul with their very hurtful insult to injury manoeuvre:

On Monday 26 May, 2025 - at 1:21PM, I received a WhatsApp Message from (1-242-376-4537) SUNSHINE FINANCE 2 PENNERNAN - about a PAYMENT REMINDER!

This is another example of Sunshine Finance abominable failure to carry-out their moral and professional duties in a dignified manner to a client and human being who is entitled to be treated with respect according to the supreme laws of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

Anti-Money Laundering Regimes are Worthless

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Policies are Costly and Ineffective

I TOLD YOU SO: IDB SAYS ANTI-MONEYLAUNDERING REGIMES ARE INEFFECTIVE! 

By Professor Gilbert Morris
Nassau, NP, The Bahamas

Since 1998, as advisor to the late great Pierre Diarier - then Chairman of the Swiss Private Bankers Association - I travelled the world (more than 100 countries) explaining that:

1. The OECD Tax Competition Initiative was bogus and unconstitutional

2. The OECD has zero authority; is not an international organisation in international law; nor was its spawn the FATF

3. European Union anti-tax competition initiatives were fiats, undermining the multilateral system

4. Tax advoidance is legal and is every individual’s duty to himself

5. Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA) were bogus, unconstitutional and secured by threats and so a violation of the Vienna Convention on Treaties 1969

6. Automatic Information Exchange was a breach of humanrights, inconsistent with any legitimate legal thesis, and replaced judicial authority with administrative tyranny

7. Small states should shed their mortal cowardice, and leverage the multilateral system to demand universal regulations consistent with a rule-governed world; which the late great Eric Crutchley of #Cayman National Bank had the courage to fund

8. The U.S. and U.K. were and are the largest financial centres and the G20 are where 90% of financial crimes are committed

9. The entire AML regime showed a retarded lack of understanding of global money aggregates and the logistics of money movement

10. Small International Financial Centres (IFC) should form an Organisation of International FinancialCentres to research and advocate globally

Of course, governments of every sort whispered to me that I was right, yet few acted to counteract this global junta, issuing its fiats, stealing data from small jurisdictions only, whilst issuing onesided blacklists, greylists and whitelists - each one more bogus than the other - offending every principle of statistical categorisation.

Now the IDB says it’s all bogus: As in the past IFCs will rejoice without admitting their enabling cowardice.  But the powerful don’t retreat without purpose.  That the IDB is making such a bold statement against an AML regime in which billions were wasted and careers were ruined, means the new strategy is not merely afoot, but ‘they’ have devised a means for control and dominance already.  And that is their duty to ride Donkeys where they find them.  It’s our jobs not to continue being the Donkey!

I warned about capitulating from fear rather than from/with strategy; as if our brains stopped when we finished at the same universities with those seeking to impose nonsense upon us.

Now again, as I warned in 1998, I warn here: THIS IS THE FRONT END OF CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCIES and AML will be replaced by surveillance.

Therefore, IFCs should launch a comprehensive study - resulting in a White Paper - on “Constitutional Modelling of CBDC” and instead of reacting to global initiatives, cultivate a mandate for the future as responsible members of the global community!

Source/Comment

The Gloomy Human Rights Situation in Haiti

William O'Neill, UN expert on the human rights situation in Haiti

Haiti's survival is at stake

Hello everyone, thank you for being here.

I am just back from Haiti where I was on a field mission to take stock of the human rights situation.  This was my fourth visit since my appointment by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights two years ago.

This brief stay enabled me to assess the situation, not only how serious it is, but also and above all, above all, the pain and despair of an entire population.  Suffering permeates all social strata, especially the most vulnerable.  Despite the efforts of the Haitian National Police (PNH) and the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission, the risk of the capital falling under gang control is palpable.

These violent criminal groups continue to extend and consolidate their hold beyond the capital.  They kill, rape, terrorize, set fire to homes, orphanages, schools, hospitals, places of worship, recruit children and infiltrate all spheres of society.  All this, with the utmost impunity and sometimes, as many sources point out, with the complicity of powerful actors.

The testimonies we received speak for themselves and need no comment.

*P., aged 16, survived the worst.  “Seven masked gunmen broke into my home in Kenscoff, raped and beat me and my stepmother.  Then they killed my father in front of me.  The pain is excruciating.

Sometimes I forget it, then it comes back.  At night, I scream”.

In the meantime, she says she “dances” and “dreams of being a psychologist for young survivors,” like herself.  The young girl has been housed in a refuge for a few weeks.  According to civil society, violence exacerbates all needs.  There are not enough resources to take care of all the victims.

“I just want to go back to the street,” concluded 12-year-old L., a child forcibly recruited by gangs.  He is currently incarcerated at the Centre de Rééducation des Mineurs in Port-au-Prince and accused of association with the gangs.  “I don't want any more bandits in my country.  Later, I'll be a pilot,” he added.

The violence has internally displaced over a million people (IDPs), and thousands more have been displaced just in recent weeks.  They have nowhere to go.  Students recently threw stones at IDPs attempting to occupy their school.  The desperate turning against the more desperate.  In the makeshift camps, hunger and sexual violence are widespread.  For many, it's a matter of survival.

Unity and solidarity must guide political action at all levels, in the interests of the population.

They must be the guiding principles for all Haitian actors, in order to ensure security,  the primacy of justice and the survival of the State.

The fight against impunity and corruption are major obstacles to the dismantling of gangs.  The Haitian State must therefore make the fight against these two scourges an absolute priority.

The fight against gangs must be conducted in strict compliance with international human rights law, particularly the right to life.  No circumstances, however exceptional, can justify the violation of this fundamental right.

The international community, for its part, must act without delay to implement the commitments it has made, particularly with regard to the sanctions regime, the arms embargo, and the substantial reinforcement of multinational security support, in compliance with international human rights law.

There is not a day to lose.  There is no alternative.  Haiti's survival is at stake.

*Names withheld to protect the identity of victims.

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