— for first half of 2017, says Harmon

GOVERNMENT’S capital spending in the initial months of 2017 was slow but improved towards the end of the first half of the year as Cabinet revise the outlook for the second half.

This is according to Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, during a post- Cabinet press briefing on Friday.

He said a report of spending was presented to Cabinet Wednesday under the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) for the first half of 2017.

Underscoring that the PSIP with an allocation of $56.75B for 2017 is the main mechanism for government’s spending, Harmon said Cabinet has discussed ways and means of assisting the budget agencies to improve their performance in relation to capital spending.

Cabinet was informed of the issues that hindered the implementation of projects under the PSIP and discussed ways and means of assisting the budget agencies to improve their performance in relation to capital spending.

The Minister of State said the procurement entities have been very careful in checking all contracts and that amounted to slowing up of the processes.

He explained that ways were looked at to expedite the procurement process, including the recommendation to appoint project management officers in various ministries to effectively speed up all procedures.

Adding that the Finance Ministry will try to facilitate other ministries with the appointment of project managers, Harmon said this will accelerate all the paperwork hurdles that may be hampering the implementation of various contracts.

“Better streamlining of the procurement process from the time that a contract is awarded to the time of mobilisation is given to the contractor to start work will be done. What we are trying to do is narrow that gap so that things can happen at a faster pace,” Harmon said.

He said Cabinet also indicated its intention to continue to closely monitor the implementation of the PSIP as permanent secretaries expressed appreciation for Cabinets intervention.

“An assurance was given to Cabinet that the bulk of PSIP projects for the year 2017 will be implemented,” he said.

Additionally, Harmon said Guyana saw a growth rate of 2.2 per cent for the first half of this year compared to a 2.0 per cent for the same period in 2016. He said that the private sector’s credit has increased while the exchange rate (US dollars) remained constant.