Mr Laing suggested that in order to meet forecasts supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the economy needed to grow by between 3.5% and 4% in 2008, following a slowdown in 2007 to 3.1%, (down from 3.4% the previous year).

The Finance Minister went on to predict a good year for the construction and tourism sectors, despite the ongoing global economic uncertainty, and predicted an increase in liquidity in the banking sector, according to a Caribbean Net News report.

However, he warned that the country's former dominance in the financial and tourism sectors had been eroded somewhat, and argued that it must fight to restore its position in these areas, both regionally and internationally.

"I do not mind telling you, as I tell the government, this is not the time for half-measures. The opportunities that exist in the world today are huge; they are enormous," he announced, according to the Bahama Journal. "They will not be seized by doing what we have been doing all along, but by doing new and different things. We must do big things. Big, big things."