Investment currency outflows nearly 50% due to COVID-19 restrictions
The Central Bank of The Bahamas.
The restrictions placed on foreign exchange outflows by The Central Bank of The Bahamas (CBOB) at the onset of the COVID-19 economic crisis resulted in resident investments through the Investment Currency Market (ICM) being slashed by more than 40 percent.
In May 2020, the bank suspended residents’ access to foreign exchange for portfolio purchases in the ICM and the Bahamas Depository Receipts (BDR) Programme. Approvals for commercial banks’ remittance of dividend payments abroad were suspended.
According to the just released CBOB Annual Report and Statement of Accounts for 2020, these measures saved up to an estimated $400 million in claims on the reserves.