Guyana’s economic decline “beyond advise”
September 11, 2015 By
… Govt should focus on village economies – Gaskin
BY ALEXIS RODNEY
Political Commentator and Economist Ramon Gaskin says the health of Guyana’s economy is deteriorating as he called upon the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) Government to redirect its focus on the local communities, to unearth ways of stimulating the economy. This is the same advice proffered by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and the Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
Asked if the current Finance Minister was receiving bad advice as to how to deal with the matter, Gaskin said that the situation was “beyond advice” as Guyana’s deep economic downturn has had a severe effect on the production levels of the major industries, including the rice, sugar, gold, bauxite and mining.
But Gaskin said that while these are good and remain the constants of Guyana’s economy, Government should place them aside for the time and focus more on the small local communities that could eventually see an upward movement of the country’s financial system.
He admitted that most of the problems Guyana is facing could very well be a result of the prices on the world market, and with Government pumping monies into many of them, this only pulls the economy backward.
Government continues to pump billions of dollars into the failing sugar industry, has offered to subsidise the mining sector, the Guyana Power and Light, Linden Electricity Company and the National Insurance Scheme among other entities, although the country’s financial standing is poor.
Gaskin said he predicts that the situation will not see any improvement until the New Year. He maintained that Government needs to do a better job to counteract the financial problems.
Meanwhile, commentators have argued that while the country remains in a bad economic condition, the new Administration might very well be receiving poor economic advice. Some of these “advisers” might have their own ambitions and agendas.
Government has appointed renowned Economist, Dr Clive Thomas as its Economic Adviser on Governance, however mistakes have still been made, particularly with the public declaration shape of state funds.
They noted that the information that was hastily declared by Finance Minster Winston Jordan, which later recanted, is one example of poor management and counsel. Jordan had told the National Assembly that Guyana had an external debt of some US$1.6 billion although he could not quote the exact figure for the domestic or internal debt the country had.
Subsequent to that statement, the PPP/C had protested the figure, stating that it was grossly inaccurate and misleading. Former Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh had said that Appendix VI to the National Budget Speech for 2014 reported that Guyana’s external debt stock stood at US$1.247 billion at the end of December 2013, and provided a detailed disaggregation by creditor.
Secondly, he said Appendix F1 to the Mid-Year Report for 2014 reported that the external debt stock stood at US$1.227 billion at the end of June 2014, and provided a similar level of disaggregation. Thirdly, Table 7-III of the Statistical Annexe to the Bank of Guyana Annual Report for 2014 reported that Guyana’s stock of external public debt amounted to US$1.217 billion. Jordon later corrected the misinformation.
Later, Government had come in for severe criticisms for its announced intention to withdraw $60 billion in Government funds that are deposited at the commercial banks.
But Jordan had told Guyana Times that the withdrawals were being done to finance the budget deficit and honour several campaign commitments made by the Government. This was done against the warning of Private Sector Commission that the situation would have led to a high level of non-performing loans.
Government had also made a blunder when it declared that it had found the PetroCaribe fund empty, failing to understand, according to the Opposition, that work was being done, thus the money had to be utilised.
