The Central Bank of The Bahamas is celebrating its 50th anniversary by hosting a number of events. On Wednesday a memorial lecture was held at the British Colonial Hotel in memory of former Governors, T. Baswell Donaldson and Sir William Allen, both deceased.

Panelists at the lecture included Minister of Economic Affairs, Sen. Hon. Michael Halkitis; President of the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA), Robert Sands and Acting President of the University of The Bahamas (UB), Janyne Hodder.

Minister Halkitis spoke with ZNS News on the sidelines of the event. He said, “tourism is very, very important, the major portion of our economy. And you know we talk about diversification but diversification within the industry in terms of service offerings even in terms of geography in The Bahamas. It’s very, very important and we have seen that evolution in the aftermath of COVID where the appetite now is for more authentic experience.”

BHTA President Robert Sands said, “we contribute over two thirds of the total revenue in this country and it is a very, very important element in terms of economic growth. Substantive persons are employed in this sector and the linkages that emanate as as direct result of our operation is pivotal to the future success of the economies here in The Bahamas.”

The guest speaker at the lecture was UB Associate Law Professor, Dr. Tanya McCartney. She gave ZNS News a preview of her presentation. “I will be looking at the traditional measures used to assess the well being of an economy and the extent to which they’re still relevant or give you a true picture of what is going on. And then I will also look at what we mean by inclusive and resilient growth and see how we measure up against those standards as a country.”

The Central Bank of The Bahamas was established on June 1st, 1974

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