Minister of Governance and Patrimony Raphael Trotman

While accepting that the economy is still a bit sluggish, Government is still hoping to see major improvements by the end of the year. This promise was made by Finance Minister Winston Jordan and was echoed by Minister of Governance and Patrimony Raphael Trotman on Thursday.

Last month, the Finance Ministry announced that the country’s economy had seen a 2.5 per cent dip during the first six months of 2015. Blaming the change in Government and the lead up to the General and Regional Elections as major contributors, the Finance Minister committed to seeing a positive change before the end of 2015.

Minister Trotman on Thursday told journalists that efforts are “afoot” to stimulate the economy. According to him, Government is taking a proactive stance in injecting finances into the economy.

According to the Mid-Year Report released by the Finance Ministry, the country’s economy declined some 2.5 per cent in the first half of this year when compared to the same period in 2014.

Finance Minister Winston Jordan

The report outlined that initially, Guyana’s half year growth was estimated to be at 0.9 per cent. However, with the passage of time and the benefit of actual first half performance in a number of sectors, the country’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) recorded a growth of 0.7 per cent in the first half of 2015, with non-sugar GDP recording a growth rate of 0.8 per cent.

It detailed the factors contributing to Guyana’s low economic performance during this period as the late presentation and passing of this year’s National Budget, which was as a result of the 10th Parliament being prorogued in November 2014 and its subsequent dissolution in February 2015, followed by the holding of the General and Regional Election in May.

The report further detailed that the delay in the budget resulted in many of the Government agencies being unable to carry out their planned programmes for the year. “Many new projects were held in abeyance while only a few projects which were ‘rolled over’ from the previous year attracted funding.

At the same time, the atmosphere of uncertainty and tensions surrounding the holding of general elections, led to investors postponing decisions in many cases,” the Mid-Year Report detailed.

Nevertheless, the Finance Ministry pointed out that with the passage of the budget, economic growth in the country is expected to surge during the second half of 2015. Moreover, given the measures outlined in Budget 2015, it is projected that there will be a 3.4 per cent economic growth in the second half of the year.

Outlook remains positive

However, the report stated that the though the economy’s first half performance was slower than desired, this was not unexpected given the internal affairs of the country during the first six months. Going forward, the Ministry said the outlook for the second half of the year remains positive.

According to Jordan, there are several contributing factors to this alleged slowdown, both locally and internationally.

“Things appear to be picking up based on some amount of statistical evidence and some of anecdotal evidence. Anecdotal in the sense that in speaking to the average man in the street, the taxi driver and so on, they have been telling me that things are picking up, they are not saying business is good but, they are saying things better than a month or two before,” he said.