Another international financial institution predicts growth of Guyana’s economy in 2014

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Former Member

(Guyana Times)The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted a 4.3 per cent growth rate for Guyana this year even as it is projecting that economic activity in Latin America and the Caribbean will stay in low gear in its 2014 forecast for the region. During his budget speech, Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh had stated that Guyana’s economy is projected to expand by 5.6 per cent in 2014, with the non-sugar economy projected to grow by 5.2 per cent. He told the National Assembly that the inflation rate is pegged at five per cent compared to 0.9 per cent last year, the lowest rate in decades. Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 5.2 per cent last year while the non-sugar GDP rose by 6.3 per cent. In 2013, the country’s economy recorded its eighth consecutive year of growth.

Meanwhile, the IMF said the recovery in the US and other advanced economies are expected to bolster export growth, but lower world commodity prices and rising global funding costs are likely to weigh on activity across the region. The IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for the Western Hemisphere released on April 24 in Lima, Peru, projects regional growth of 2½ per cent in 2014, down from 2¾ per cent in 2013. Weak investment and subdued demand for the region’s exports held back activity in 2013, as did increasingly binding supply bottlenecks in a number of economies.

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Former Member

Guyana is a commodity based economy. Economic stagnation in the US and the EU did NOT impact Guyana as it did most other CARICOM nations.

On the other hand a slowing economy in China will impact Guyana, as commodity prices will weaken.

Guyana doesnt export services so the two sources of income under pin the economy. Exports and remittances. FDI is tied to the outlook for commodities.

5/7/144:59 PM

Former Member

Guyana was not adversely affected by the world financial crisis mainly due to the stringent economic policies of the administration, they remain very prudent in economic decisions which in the long run will be of most benefit to all especially those of the working class.

5/7/145:25 PM

Former Member

Originally Posted by Conscience:

Did the government control the price for gold, or rice, or influence the levels of remittances.

No.

So please outline which policies and explain why Guyana lags Suriname, which has a similar economy, and a similar history of political mismanagement, and a similar history of ethnic tensions, even if less open than that of Guyana.

Suriname has a GDP of US$ 5 billion, while Guyana has a scant US$2.8 billion.

5/7/145:27 PM