2020/21 Budget Communication 2020-21 Budget Communication - Final (1)-compresse | Page 28

We are committing the funding to support displaced workers, to support budding entrepreneurs
and established businesses. We are budgeting the resources to stimulate the economy through
necessary civil works. We are accelerating the pace of recovery efforts in Grand Bahama and
Abaco, with the support of economic and physical infrastructure rehabilitation and new builds. We
are pressing forward to digitize the public service and support the roll out of the Sand Dollar digital
currency.
And we are expanding and extending the innovative initiatives that we launched in the current
fiscal year, will millions of additional resources directed towards our preschool to university free
education strategy, and our growth plan for the small business sector.
We believe wholeheartedly that this deliberate policy mix of protective measures and broader
stabilizing initiatives embodied in this Budget will provide the timely and targeted support that
Bahamians and residents need, and will provide the necessary framework for a strong and robust
rebound.
The biggest set of twin setbacks in the last 100 years calls for the biggest fiscal response in 100
years! And, while we pray to almighty God that we will not face compounding challenges like this
again, we are prepared to face, head on, the hardships of this moment.
When we emerge from this crisis the Government will return to the success of our fiscal
consolidation plan, treating this juncture in our national story as an anomaly, not as a license to
engage in fiscal indiscipline.
Mr. Speaker,
That is our vision and that is our plan as we lay this 2020/21 Budget.
As burdensome as things seem, Mr. Speaker, we can all still draw inspiration from the resilient
spirit of the Bahamian people and find confidence in the fact that our economy remains viable and
structurally sound.
This is a response to two unprecedented and historic events in the lifetime of our country, that We
ask each and every Bahamian and resident across our archipelago of islands to trust in that resilient
spirit, and to lean on each other as a family, community and nation. We have every confidence in
the decisions taken and the plan we have put in place to create opportunity out of this crisis.
Finally Mr. Speaker,
We recognize and accept that this is a very difficult Budget. We know that our present
circumstances can be worrisome to some, but we must find a way and the courage to surmount
them. I believe the road ahead will not be easy for us, as it will not be for our regional peers and
even developed countries around the world. We will remain in a state of triage for a while before
achieving stabilization, and we will need to be prepared to make some tough decisions, if necessary
to meet this objective.
28