Some of the principal areas of administrativeeconomic control include: –  The Exchange Control Policy;  –  The Investment Policy, which restricts entry by non-Bahamians into certain areas of the economy;  –  The Public sector official virtual monopoly over provisions of electrically and telecommunications services;  –  The monopoly over provisions of legal services, held by the Bahamas Bar Association; and  –  The Immigration Policy, which appears to be premised on the principle that work permits should be available only for positions which cannot be filled by Bahamians.
This framework is important to understand our recent monetary policy decisions, in two ways. First, we have lowered interest rates with the sole purpose of ensuring medium-term price stability for the euro area. We understand this decision has implications on different groups. This is however a consequence, not an aim of a monetary policy focused on price stability.