The Bermuda Democratic Alliance (BDA) has hit out at Government over its handling of the economy and called for a change in the way import duty is imposed on retailers to offer some relief in light of the latest set of retail sales figures.

Michael Fahy, chairman of the BDA, said that the continued decline in sales came as no surprise and was yet another indicator that the local economy was suffering and people were not spending money in Bermuda or overseas.

And he said that the global recession could not be blamed for all of the Island's economic woes and that Government should have acted quicker to come to the aid of businesses.

He predicted that there is worse in store, particularly in the international business sector, citing the example of the 17 job cuts announced by Ace last week.

"If we are going to assist retailers in this downturn then we need to implement a change in the way duty is charged on retail outlets," he said.

"The BDA has proposed on a number of occasions import duty being imposed on the retailer after goods have been sold. This will give some assistance to this sector."

He continued: "People need to face the facts. The economy has been mismanaged. We cannot blame all of our woes on a global downturn. Given that there is traditionally a lag in Bermuda in terms of downturns and recoveries of about six months compared to the US there was, at the very least a six-month window of opportunity to help the local economy.

"There is more hardship to come. There is definitely a continued trickle of international business personnel leaving Bermuda. The Ace example has Bermudians involved. When Bermudians start losing their jobs and cannot find employment then perhaps we will start taking our heads out of the sand and recognise the truth about where we are."