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Apr 08, 2017 News
Over the next two years, the Bureau of Statistics (BoS) plans to deliver a Labour Force Survey as well as a Household budget survey.
This was according to the Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, during the commissioning of a refurbished building at Main and Hope Streets, Georgetown to serve as the BoS Headquarters.
These surveys, the Minister said, will provide vital information on employment, as well as other socio-economic data such as consumption and poverty which will enable the government to make better economic decisions.
He noted, also, the expansion of the consumer price index into an all-urban index which will also provide important pricing information especially for the hinterland areas.
The information that will be provided is fundamental in the assessment of the changes in cost of living.
He added that the Bureau will also establish a poverty unit in order to make poverty data accessible on a frequent basis.
“These initiatives will certainly enhance the profile of the Bureau as it aims to become the premiere statistical agency within the region.”
The Finance Minister said that as “the government remains committed to the development of human capacity in 2017,” staff at the Bureau will benefit from training from Stats Canada, especially in the area of information Technology, data analysis, national accounts, trade and pricing.
“A module of training in data analysis was delivered last month.
Projected training in national accounts will encompass building capacity for the inclusion of the petroleum sector into the National Accounts when commercial production begins,” the Minister said.
These initiatives will enable staff to acquire the requisite skills for the tasks ahead. Staff will be trained, too, in the use of tablets to collect and process data in the fields. Technology will play an important role in enabling the Bureau to produce data that are timely, relevant and of good quality, Jordan told the gathering yesterday.
Among those at the commissioning were Head of State, David Granger; Chief Statistician, Lennox Benjamin; Members of the Diplomatic Corps and staff of the BoS.
Jordan also expressed gratitude to the Inter-American Bank (IDB), United Nations Statistical Office, Stats Canada and the Caribbean Technical Assistance Centre, which he said, are among the organisations that have continued to support the work of the Bureau.
The Bureau was established as a department in 1957, but prior to this, the collection and publication of statistics was decentralised and assigned to a few key government departments.
In the early 1940s the then Sugar Producers Association was responsible for the compilation of sugar statistics, the Agriculture Department for statistics on rice and the remainder of the agricultural sector, the then Public Works Department was responsible for statistics on wages and the Customs Department was in charge of Trade Statistics.
An Act of Parliament in October 1990 incorporated the Bureau of Statistics (BoS) as a semi-autonomous body, outside the purview of the traditional Public Service.
The functions of the Bureau, which has since 1965 become systemized, are set out in section 4 (1) of the Bureau of Statistics Act No 25 of 1991 and the Statistical Bureau Act Cap 19.09 and can be summed up as follows: conduct censuses; collect, compile,
analyse, and publish socio-economic and other statistical data; collaborate with other Government departments in collecting, compiling, analysing and publishing statistics derived from administrative records; organise a coordinated scheme of social and economic statistics for Guyana.
The Bureau is the main co-ordinator and producer of economic statistics, including national accounts. The main data on population, economic and social conditions of households stem from censuses and surveys.
The Bureau is recognised as the central authority on statistics in this country, and is often requested to advise and assist ministries and private/public sector organisations on statistical matters, and is the obvious member of the Guyana team for reviews of the IMF structural adjustment programmes and similar activities.
According to the entity’s website, The Bureau functions with a headquarter staff strength of about 80, although there are 120 approved positions.
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