With oil prices fluctuating and the housing market in the United States unstable, those businessmen are voicing concerns that the Bahamas’ economy will continue to suffer.

Dionisio D’Aguilar, president of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce said right now things are not doing well.

"Sales are trending down, costs are trending up and you continue to be in one hell of a profit squeeze," he said. "Another thing is that energy is eating up so much of people’s income.

"People are really having to conserve because they have to have power and they have to have gas in their cars."

Mr. D’Aguilar referenced Cable Bahamas Limited, noting that for the first time it has seen a ‘dip’ in sales.

"For the first time, it has seen its sales of the basic cable package go down and that to me was rough but we need to be encouraged," he said. "Atlantis continues to run substantial occupancies but it is definitely still a tough economy out there and the news from the United States just continues to get worse.

Chairman of Sunshine Holdings Group Limited, Franklyn Wilson shared the view that policy makers in the country need to do a better job.

"I think right now we are in a very difficult situation and as to the future I think it’s very difficult to say how things will be," he said. "My own view is that right now our public policy is in disarray.

"The fact of the matter is when the Minister of Finance read his budget communication to parliament, that resonated very well in the business community It appeared to be [saying] all the right things but now in hindsight it appears, quite frankly, that the question of giving with one hand and taking away with the other is negative for the economy."

He opined that the Bahamas should not wait for the U.S. economy to "turn around."