$ 111. 0 million in abaco ). this is a debt management strategy collectively agreed between the central bank and the ministry of finance, in order to offset any balance of payment strain from import financing around rebuilding activities. the ability to see some return to activity in grand bahama in 2020, favors the onset of the recovery of tourism earnings. having the abaco tourism plant substantially back in production by 2021 would help to normalize return to the still positive mediumterm outlook for reserves. until then, the tourism marketing strategy has to succeed in attracting some of the displaced business from the northern islands to undamaged facilities elsewhere in the bahamas. resilience post - natural disasters at this point, i would like to delve deeper into the topic of resilience. drawing on the work of the imf, the world bank and others, a framework for building resilience would consider three major elements : the physical or structural infrastructure, financial factors and the social, post - disaster resilience. i will keep the focus today on financial resilience. 6 that said, both social and infrastructural vulnerabilities still reduce to financial costs that ought to be addressed in policies that build buffers and provide ample insurance for both public sector interests and private households. financial resilience for the public sector, the world bank and imf inspired multi - layered approach to managing the fiscal and macroeconomic risks of natural disasters focus on four areas. they include : 1. fiscal buffers ( as a means of self - insurance ) 2. securing direct insurance ( through risk - pooling mechanisms ) 3. pre - arranging emergency access to credit ( for rapid response ) 4. securing access to international financial and humanitarian assistance physical resilience encompasses structural measures aimed at mitigating the impacts of natural disasters. it includes investment in infrastructure including new structures, upgrades to existing ones ; and developing and fine tuning policies related to zoning, building codes, land use, early warning systems and “ risk maps ”. the social resilience element comes into play post - disaster. it involves the response of the government, wider community and relevant organizations to the various humanitarian needs that exist following the occurrence of a natural disaster. the relevant authorities must be able to ensure minimal interruption in national security, emergency medical care services and essential utilities. additionally, the established frameworks must ensure that aid to the adversely affected population is efficiently distributed without undue delays and abuses. the bahamas has made

weighted heavily in all responses. active responsibility for it, and through intentional public policy to reduce the financial risk to the government. a philosophy which stresses that bahamian households should prudently manage their finances over a life time perspective is important — especially with mounting climate change vulnerabilities. just as in the case of the government, the household ’ s approach to savings should allow families to insure better against the setbacks from natural disasters. insurance has to factor into the cost of housing, just as should tax and other maintenance obligations. a part of the solution is accepting downsized housing, for which families can more fully afford the insurance. we must also be able to afford more resilient physical dwellings. aside, from being cautious about the coastline, it could mean more acceptance of multi - family condominium style structures, built more elevated and able to withstand higher winds forces than singlefamily housing. accepting the premise that some families are not going to be voluntarily disciplined then public policy would have to cause the insurance to be secured. this speaks to taxpayer funding on some direct level. having savings buffers also means that our families have to be more conservative about their debt levels in ordinary times. even with the relaxed position that local lending institutions are now taking to accommodate borrowers after the recent storm, there will be some families who are be unable to take on more debt to finance necessary home repairs or to replace lost assets. again, this means more scrutiny of the expenditure levels that families take on in ordinary times. the policy intervention from the central bank side would lean towards tighter lending standards for households that are not yet in distress. at the national level, regulation on lending standards will also need to reflect uniformity across entities that are not supervised by the central bank. it is a macroprudential concern — meaning that it could undermine the stability of the financial system in a general sense, if left untreated. in the extreme, it could affect how the economy in the aggregate is able bounce back from natural disasters. the central bank ’ s medium - term approach will be to also explore how the incidences of under - insurance on mortgaged properties could be suppressed. the financial distress from underinsurance can be particularly acute when debt survives that has to be repaid, despite major loss of the physical assets. for the business sector, affordable bridge financing will also have to be in greater abundance post - natural disasters. the central bank is already committed to studying this issue of how even