The Debt Management Office (the “DMO”) of the Ministry of Finance is mandated under Section 61 of the Public Debt Management Act, 2021 (the “Act”)1, to prepare and pub- lish public debt statistical bulletins (“PDSB”), no later than thirty calendar days after the end of each quarter of the fiscal year.

In keeping with this mandate, the De- cember 2021 PDSB represents the second centralized collection of and dedicated publication on public debt statistics in The Bahamas by the DMO.

During the first half of the 2021/22 fiscal year, The Bahamas demonstrat- ed improved economic performance as compared to the same period in the prior year, mirroring the rebound of the global market despite the emergence of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus in The Bahamas during the second quarter.

As a result of national elections on 16 September, 2021 which resulted in a change in political administration, the country saw the implementation of a suite of new policies aimed at sup- porting the rebound of the Bahamian economy.

Preliminary data from the Central Government’s operations for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2021-2022 indicate an expected narrowing of the fiscal deficit to $153.5 million from $345.1 million in the previous year. This outcome is largely due to the reopening of the economy. Revenue receipts improved with increased tourism and taxable activities due to lessened COVID restrictions. However, expenditure to support various social assistance and employment support programs in response to the pandemic continued during the period.

Preliminary data on the budget performance for FY2020/21 shows the Government performed materially in line with the parliamentary approved fiscal targets, closing the year with a budget deficit of $1.348 billion, inclusive of $273.3 million in COVID-19 related expenditures and $68 million approved in June by Parliament to build a major multi-story extension to the Princess Margaret Hospital.

During Fiscal Year 2020/21, the Government, with the approval of Parliament, shifted its budgetary strategy from fiscal consolidation to one that responded to the severe economic contraction caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The approved fiscal strategy called for investments in public health and safety, expansion of social protections, and restoration of economic stability. To meet the demands of the ‘Resilient Bahamas’ plan, the Parliament unanimously agreed to increase  the deficit to $1.3 billion to pay for the significant but necessary financial cost of economic mitigation efforts.