S&P sees Bahamas' growth continuing under new PM
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| Published on Saturday, May 5, 2007 |
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By Jane Sutton
MIAMI, USA (Reuters): Newly elected Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham was sworn in on Friday and Standard and Poor's predicted the islands' economic expansion would continue during his five-year term.
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| Hubert Ingraham |
A routine recount confirmed that Ingraham's Free National Movement (FNM) won 23 of the 41 seats in the House of Assembly in Wednesday's vote, election supervisors said.
Bahamian Governor General Arthur Hanna, who represents Britain's Queen Elizabeth in her role as head of state for the Commonwealth nation, then invited him to form the new government.
Hanna administered the oath of office to Ingraham, who served as prime minister from 1992 to 2002, during a private ceremony on Friday.
Ingraham's FNM ousted outgoing Prime Minister Perry Christie's Progressive Liberal Party, which had led the nation of 700 islands and 320,000 people for the past five years.
The Bahamas depends on tourism for half of its jobs and 40 percent of its gross domestic product. The tourism sector was the driving force for strong economic expansion under Christie's leadership.
But Ingraham's party campaigned on the issue of trust, criticizing Christie's government for a series of scandals and accusing it of selling too much land to foreign investors.
Credit analysts at Standard and Poor's said the change of government was unlikely to significantly alter economic policy or delay any major investments.
"Both the outgoing PLP and the incoming FNM share the same views on maintaining macroeconomic stability through a disciplined fiscal stance and prudent monetary management," S&P said in a report.
It predicted a smooth transition, given Ingraham's recent tenure as head of government and familiarity with the issues.
"In fact, FNM is generally perceived as being more rapid and aggressive in decision-making than ousted PLP, particularly in dealing with investors," the ratings agency said.
Despite the campaign rhetoric, Ingraham and his party showed strong support for foreign investment in the tourism industry during its last term, and that was expected to continue, S&P said.
Between $10 billion and $15 billion of new investment is expected in the next five to seven years, the agency said.
But the ongoing economic boom could stir demands to improve education, reduce crime and address unequal wealth distribution, while putting pressure on the government to deal with skyrocketing imports, S&P said.
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