Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. Philip Davis speaks in the House of Assembly during his 2025/2026 Budget Communication to Parliament, on May 28, 2025. (BIS Photos/Patrick Hanna)
NASSAU, The Bahamas – During his 2025/2026 Budget Communication to Parliament, on May 28, 2025, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. Philip Davis announced that, in summary, his Government’s expenditure and policy actions in that budget included measures to, for the very first time since Independence, finally secure “the achievement of a balanced budget”.
“More than a balanced budget – a budget with a surplus,” Prime Minister Davis said in the House of Assembly.
He added: “We have modernized government for better and more effective governance. We provide affordability by securing our food supply. We have stimulated private sector investments across the Family Islands. We are ensuring that Bahamians benefit from the use of our natural resources; secure better health outcomes for our citizens; investing in critical sectors such as education, healthcare, national security and environmental protection; and, of course, we are strengthening public infrastructure across the archipelago.”
Prime Minister Davis pointed out that the 2025/2026 budget reflected the values and policies laid out in detail in his Government’s 'Blueprint for Change', and built on the progress of their three previous budgets.
He noted: “Our agenda is focused on Security, Opportunity, Affordability, and Reform. Security, which encompasses multiple goals, from national security to personal safety. Opportunity, which requires growing our economy and investing in our people. Affordability, which means pushing against global and local inflationary pressures and innovating to lower prices wherever possible.”
“And Reform, because our ability to make crucial investments in our people was possible because of fiscal discipline, and because if we want the best outcomes, we need to modernize government services and make them more responsive to the people,” Prime Minister Davis added.
He noted that, despite all the headwinds and hardship that The Bahamas had faced, it was “now a country on the move”.
“Together, we are confronting our most difficult challenges, the ones that have held us back for too long – and it is the determination and the ingenuity of our people that is powering our country’s progress,” Prime Minister Davis said.
He added: “Governments can write smart laws, and implement innovative policies. But those laws and policies can only create substantial and enduring change if we work in close partnership with the Bahamian people. So as I speak today – and in the coming weeks – about advances already underway, and as we describe our plan to build on and expand that progress, I want to recognize that our nation’s gains and successes are possible only because of our extensive collaboration with the many, many Bahamians who are contributing their ideas, their talents, and their smarts, to moving our country forward."
Prime Minister Davis stated that many Bahamians saw for themselves the spirit and the resourcefulness of their fellow citizens during the pandemic, when people who lost their jobs turned talents and interests into new business ventures, evidence of the “no-quit character I referred to earlier”.
“But we won’t soon forget the harsh conditions we faced in 2020 and 2021,” he said. “I spent a lot of time with families in which everyone of working age had lost their jobs -- the mummies, the daddies, the uncles, the aunties, the young people. Entire families, with no real money coming in. Along with frustration, there was real fear.”
Prime Minister Davis continued: “The lockdowns, the curfews, the travel visas, the fines and punishments – it was clear that these made a bad situation worse. Our hospitals, schools, and communities were in terrible shape. A lot of people were hurting. It was under these circumstances that we asked Bahamians to give us the opportunity to lead the country out of crisis.”
He pointed out that in his Government’s 'Economic Plan' and its 'Blueprint for Change', it laid out a detailed vision for recovering, rebuilding, and revolutionizing our country’s economy.
“We knew we had a big task ahead of us,” Prime Minister Davis said. “We knew that rescuing the country from the worst fiscal and economic crises we’d ever faced was going to be a big lift. But we also knew – as bad as things were – that recovery could not be the ultimate goal; recovery had to be a stop on the way to something better.
“Because even in the best of times in the past, too many Bahamians have been left out of our economy.”
He noted that celebrating the landmark 50th Independence anniversary reminded all how far The Bahamas had come, as a small independent nation, but also underscored how much work there was left to do, to meet the promise of Independence.
“It is the honour of my lifetime to spend my days working hard, alongside my colleagues, to do what we can to fulfill that promise -- to create opportunities that reach every island and lift up every Bahamian family,” Prime Minister Davis said.
He stated that, even though economic recovery was never his Government’s final destination – even though their ambition was to create a new era of growth and opportunity – there was never going to be a shortcut.
“There was no way to skip the rescue and recovery steps,” Prime Minister said. “We always knew we would need to put in the time and effort required to dig out of a very deep hole.”
He added: “The choices we made fueled our country’s economic recovery. It’s a recovery that independent experts have called ‘remarkable’ precisely because the pace and magnitude of the recovery was in no way inevitable. We made policy decisions – about curfews, and travel visas, and free testing – that were distinct from those of our predecessors. We ended policies that were keeping businesses closed down and people out of work. And even as we pulled the country back from a fiscal cliff, we raised the minimum wage – and just let me say it is yet not high enough, but raising it was a step in the right direction. We signed new labour agreements. We approved new forms of relief.”
Prime Minister Davis pointed out that the decisions his Government made and the policies it carried out ended the speculation about downgrades and currency devaluation.
“And – as you will hear in more detail shortly, we have since then continued to strengthen considerably our country’s finances,” he said.
“We did not sit back, and hope good things would happen – we made good things happen,” Prime Minister Davis added. “We have actively promoted the country, creating new investments, new jobs, and new opportunities.”
He continued: “And ten billion dollars of private sector investment later, alongside hundreds of millions of government-led investments, we’re still at it – still actively creating opportunities, not just hoping for them. We have built important relationships with other leaders and countries, an important task for a small nation looking to leverage the influence coalitions can exert on the global stage. We have created innovative climate finance arrangements, one of which alone will save our country more than $120 million. We are bringing major sporting events to The Bahamas. We have strengthened partnerships to protect our borders.”
Prime Minister Davis pointed out that his Government’s efforts removed the country from the blacklist, and that Attorney-General Ryan Pinder was at that time “playing an influential role on the United Nations committee that is rewriting many of the rules that will affect our financial services industry”.
“We have not had that kind of influence before -- and a seat at the table matters,” he stated.
“There’s so much more – from expanding Urban Renewal, to renovating clinics, to taking action on the backlog of thousands of promotions in our public service, to signing a record number of agreements with labour unions,” Prime Minister Davis added.
He noted that his Government had served close to one million free hot breakfasts to school children in The Bahamas.
“I am lucky enough to, from time to time, to be able to stop by a school and share breakfast with the children, and say hello as they enjoy their breakfast,” Prime Minister Davis added. “Let me tell you something, the food vendors and teachers and staff aren’t just serving a nutritious meal; they are serving hope and love. School Breakfast reflects our belief that all of our children deserve a chance to start their day ready to learn. That’s why our new budget expands the programme, ensuring it will soon reach every one of our Government’s primary schools."
He pointed out that that new initiative was the first time free breakfasts had been served in Government schools.
“In fact, we have racked up a lot of firsts,” Prime Minister Davis said. “That’s what challenging the status quo requires – racking up firsts.”
He noted: “We launched our country’s first National Youth Guard, the country’s first significant national service programme, which gives young people training to support our security services during a national emergency; and along with that, we give them job-ready skills that help them find good work.”
“We are the first government to put free WiFi in the parks,” Prime Minister Davis added.
He continued: “We are the first to conduct a Nationwide Learning Assessment in all of our schools, allowing us to assess learning needs more precisely; the first to launch the Golden Yolk programme for the production of eggs; and I can say the first to take diversifying our trade relationships seriously, with a new Trade office and support for Bahamian exporters.”
Prime Minister Davis pointed out that his Government was the first government to “meaningfully stand up” to the Grand Bahama Port Authority, to insist that they carry out their obligations to the people and communities of Grand Bahama.
“We are the first government to pass a law ensuring intellectual property rights for our artists and other creatives, so that they can benefit fully from what they produce,” he said. “Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing more details about these and many other ‘firsts’.”
“And when – momentarily - I turn to a detailed review of macroeconomic conditions and our financing activities, an update on our fiscal strategy and more, I am pleased to say that in this arena, too, we have achieved an important first: the first government in an independent Bahamas to produce a budget surplus,” he reiterated.
“We have made substantial gains strengthening our country’s fiscal outlook and our economy,” Prime Minister Davis added.
