Guyana Government’s disconnect from reality

Feb 17, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,
The Government seems removed from the economy, its citizens, and the global economic crisis. Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh projects the economy will grow by 4.7 percent. Mightier economies have made no such projections. How will Guyana’s growth be achieved?

The budget did not provide for job creation and training, but the Government expects high unemployment to decline.

VAT remains 16%, PAYE 33.3%, and the income tax threshold is stagnant. Salaries do not cushion or surpass rising costs in commodities and utilities. There is no Unemployment Benefit Programme. Remittances have declined as families and friends cope with the crisis in their adopted countries.

Hotels built for the World Cup remain empty. There is no investment to stimulate economic growth and create jobs.

Sugar is in dire straits. It continues to fall behind projected productions. Prices are falling on the global market. Crops, livestock and animals have significantly dwindled, and so have economic returns after the 2005, 2008 and 2009 floods.

There is no job for school leavers and opportunities for those needing skills training. State funding to the Critchlow Labour College has not been returned, which hinders the College’s ability to provide training for the labour market.

The Government refuses to acknowledge that the absence of human rights, education and employment brings about protest and anti-social behaviours.

Deputy Governor of the Bank of Guyana, Dr Gobind Ganga, assures us, “The bank is aware of the informal economy and the presence of dirty money in use…(A)nd is also not in a position to quantify how much of that money is in the system” (SN 7/2/2009 ). People know narco trafficking and other branches of the criminal /informal economy are thriving. And there’s no similar sighting in the formal economy.

The world’s largest economies — USA, Britain, Europe, China, and Japan — are throwing everything to create and/or save jobs, rescue financial institutions, and reverse the spiralling trend.

In the Caribbean, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and others have their own economic stimulus plans. Guyana has no plan. The Government thinks there is no need for one.
M. A. Bacchus