It is likely that big business, and not small savers, was responsible for an uptick in fixed deposits last February - specifically corporations looking to lock into higher interest rates they feared would soon take a beating.

While overall Bahamian dollar deposits advanced by $2.9 million to $49.5 million by the end of February 2008, it was fixed deposit growth that nearly doubled to $41.7 million, according to newly released data from the Central Bank. Money squirreled away in savings and checking accounts wasn't nearly so impressive, the latter actually falling by $3.9 million from February 2007 numbers.

On the surface, that decline suggests Bahamians may simply have switched their money over to fixed deposits, fearful that interest rates on demand and savings accounts would get lowered as banks look to close the gap between the interest they make on the loans they offer and the interest they pay out to depositors.

But deposit rates averages may suggest it was really corporate Bahamas dumping more of its money into fixed term accounts.

While the weighted average deposit rate at banks edged up one basis point to 4.06 percent last February, the maximum rate offered - 7.25 percent - was attached to a 12-month fixed maturity account with more than $5 million bucks in it.

That's the kind of sweetheart deal only big businesses could and would have taken advantage of.