2018/19 Budget Communication 2018_2019 BUDGET COMMUNICATION | Page 63

permit us to create the fiscal buffers and headroom that will
be necessary when external conditions turn somewhat less
favourable, as is projected by the IMF over the medium to
longer term.
It will also be vitally important that we
proactively implement our transformative plan to remove the
structural impediments to more buoyant growth, strengthen
the productivity, competitiveness and resilience of our
domestic economy and position it to better adapt to the
evolving international environment, including pending
accession to the World Trade Organization.
IV. THE BAHAMIAN ECONOMY
I now turn to recent domestic economic
developments and prospects for the future.
The Department of Statistics recently released its
estimates of Gross Domestic Product for 2017, as well as
revisions for the previous four years.
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The rate of real