2019/20 Budget Communication Final Budget Communication | Page 10

legislation allows the Government the opportunity to update its forecasts and projections and to
provide a legitimate explanation for same.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act also mandates the establishment of a Fiscal
Responsibility Council, comprised of five members with legal, business, economic, accounting,
and financial backgrounds, respectively. These individuals, you would recall Mr. Speaker, are
selected by specific entities named in the legislation, and not by the Government directly.
The Act states that the Council must—and it will—be established by July 1, 2019. In
complying with that mandate, I would like to advise, at this time, that the Honourable Speaker has
requested and received nominations from the Bahamas Bar Association, the Bahamas Chamber of
Commerce and Employers Confederation, the University of The Bahamas, the Bahamas Institute
of Chartered Accountants, and the Chartered Financial Analyst Society of The Bahamas.
Upon the advice of the Speaker, the nominees are now to be appointed by the
Governor-General and the Council will then be in a position to begin fulfilling its mandated
responsibilities as of July 1.
As is the case in other jurisdictions, such as the European Union, the United States and,
in the region, Jamaica and Grenada, the core role of the Council is to foster budgetary discipline
by independently evaluating the Government’s compliance with the rules and principles set out in
the Act, including the general principles, fiscal responsibility principles and the fiscal objectives.
In doing this, the Council is expected to review and assess the Government’s Fiscal Strategy
Report, the Mid-Year Review, the Annual Budget, and the Government’s audited annual accounts.
The thorough and complete assessment of each of these documents will serve to promote the
Government’s adherence to sound fiscal decisions that take into account the economic impact they
will have on the economy.
The Council will have access to all government information and all public servants in
the fulfillment of its mandate. The Council will report directly to the Bahamian people through its
direct submissions to Parliament. The deliberations and the reports of the Fiscal Responsibility
Council will not be subject to any direction or intervention by any public officer or elected official.
The Government has also moved to increase fiscal transparency and accountability
through the publication of regular, quarterly fiscal performance reports. Now, taxpayers are in a
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