Jagdeo, Ashni Singh pawn the future
of Guyana – Moses Nagamootoo
Guyana’s total public debt may be heading for a Parliamentary debate after revelations that last year, it was a staggering US$1.7B.
It does not include the Amaila Falls hydro project loan which would be more than US$800M or the US$130M for a new international airport at Timehri.
It also does not take into account the planned, Indian-built Specialty Hospital which is to be constructed with an Indian line of credit worth US$17M,
Twenty years ago, in 1992, when the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) took power, it inherited a debt of US$2B.
The exchange rate at the time was $126 to the United States dollar. This translated into some $263 billion in local currency.
Over the years, Guyana managed to have almost three-quarters of this debt written off from overseas bilateral financial institutions, the Paris Club and other lenders.
According to Vice Chairman of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Moses Nagamootoo, whose party has seven seats in the National Assembly, claims by Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, during his budget presentation last year that Guyana’s debt is at its lowest now in 20 years, may be totally misleading.
As a matter of fact, Nagamootoo, a former senior executive of the PPP/C, is examining the possibilities of raising the issue in the National Assembly for a possible debate. The debt at the time was $378 billion, including a $40 billion debt from local entities.
He believes that the debt rate is rising too quickly and unless checked, could prove threatening to Guyana’s future generations who will be saddled with the huge burden of repayments.