In his address to the nation on October 1, 2001 Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham painted a grim but realistic picture of the months ahead as the country copes with the sharp decline in tourist travel. He described in general terms the impact on employment, what Government would do and the limitations on its actions.
Past achievements.
Surprising was the absence of any call to business enterprise…either foreign or domestic. In the present crisis it is easy to overlook the economic boom of the past eight years. This is an achievement that is more often criticized than lauded in the heat of the tourism crisis and an election.
The reality is that between 1993 and 2001 the Bahamian Gross Domestic Product grew at an average rate of 3.1% per year when adjusted for inflation and approximately 1.6% when further adjusted for population growth. And in the last two years growth reached 4% per year fully adjusted. This is outstanding.
