News Story

Source: Central Communications Unit, Ministry of Finance, The Bahamas

Date: November 20, 2025

Contact: MOFcomms@bahamas.gov.bs

In keeping with Section 61 of the Public Debt Management Act, 2021, the September 2025 Public Debt Statistical Bulletin (“PDSB”) represents the seventeenth official report on public debt statistics in The Bahamas prepared by the Debt Management Office (the “DMO”) of the Ministry of Finance.

At end-September 2025, the public sector debt stock was estimated at $13,550.6 million—representing respective gains of $307.9 million (2.3%) and $480.7 million (3.7%) vis-à-vis end-June 2025 and endSeptember of the prior year. Quarterly net financing activities boosted the central Government’s component by $300.3 million (2.6%) to $12,069.5 million, for an estimated 73.4% of GDP. Meanwhile, debt of the Agencies and Government Business Enterprises increased slightly by $7.6 million (0.5%) to $1,481.1 million.

Since end-June 2025, public sector external debt declined by $43.4 million (0.8%) to $5,505.2 million, which corresponded to a 1.3 percentage point reduction in share to 40.6%. Approximately $26.0 million (59.9%) of this decline was associated with reduced claims on financial institutions, with the balance ($17.4 million) spread across multilaterals (21.4%), private capital market (12.2%) and bilateral (6.5%) creditors.

Quarterly growth in the domestic currency component of public debt amounted to $351.2 million (4.6%), for an outstanding balance of $8,045.4 million at end-September 2025. The expansion was primarily explained by the central government’s $302.1 million (42.6%) increased liabilities to the Central Bank. Public sector debt obligations to the private sector and the central Government were also higher by $59.7 million (2.0%) and $27.7 million (6.4%), respectively. These were partly offset by a $37.2 million reduction in debt owed to commercial banks and a lesser $1.1 million for public corporations.

By currency, 56.9% of the public sector debt portfolio was in Bahamian Dollars, 37.7% in USD, and 5.4% held in other foreign currencies. Fixed rate debt constituted an elevated 66.2% of the overall portfolio, with the variable rate share at 33.8%.

The Government remains committed to transparency and accountability in debt management activities and invites stakeholders to visit the national Budget Website (www.bahamasbudget.gov.bs) to view the various published reports.