Prime Minister Philip Davis says the Bahamas has recorded its first fiscal surplus since independence. The opposition says the numbers do not tell the whole story, and a prominent Bahamian banker is warning that the accounting questions need answers before anyone celebrates.
So, what exactly should Bahamians believe?
On preliminary figures, the government boasted that it recorded a $39.3 million surplus for the 2025/2026 fiscal year, with revenue of $3.96 billion against expenditure of $3.92 billion. That represents a significant turnaround from the $84.8 million deficit recorded the previous year.
The debate is over how the numbers were calculated.
The dispute centres on the National Investment Fund (NIF) and the government’s handling of hundreds of millions of dollars in borrowing proceeds and capital investment.
Finance Minister Michael Halkitis previously said approximately $700 million in excess borrowing proceeds was transferred to the NIF, while $310.9 million was used for infrastructure and national assets.
Opposition Leader Michael Pintard and Shadow Minister for Finance Kwasi Thompson argues that NIF-related expenditure should be reflected in the government’s overall fiscal position. The government, meanwhile, has defended its accounting treatment and pointed to the accounts supporting its reported surplus.
If capital works were financed through the NIF, how were those transactions recorded? Was the Fund treated consistently with the accounting rules used for the government’s fiscal balance? What were the legal arrangements governing the accounts, and who authorised the transactions?
Those questions raised determine whether the public can understand the figures being presented.
Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) president Gowon Bowe, speaking to Eye Witness News, cautioned that the reported figures are preliminary, unaudited and subject to change. He has also questioned the treatment of NIF expenditure and pointed to the need for consistent accounting.
There is another detail that needs examining: the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax generated $68.6 million during the fiscal year. Bowe argued that, holding other figures constant, without that revenue the reported surplus would instead have been a deficit of approximately $29.3 million.
That does raise questions about the composition of the result and whether the revenue can be sustained.
The public needs a transparent reconciliation of the money borrowed, transferred, spent and remaining, alongside the accounting treatment applied to those transactions.
The Public Accounts Committee and the Auditor General’s Office have scrutiny roles in the NIF controversy, with questions still being pursued about records, governance and financial controls.
Davis may be right that the country has reached a historic fiscal milestone, but his critics may be right that important questions are still not answered.
The surplus celebrated by the government and dismissed by the Opposition needs understanding. If the numbers withstand scrutiny, the records should help demonstrate that. If adjustments or explanations are needed, the public deserves those too.
But Bahamians need to see clearly how that result was reached.