A GINA Feature

WHEN Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh explained recently that Guyana can indeed be proud, he did not make an empty boast. He detailed that in the year 2014, the country continued a trend that makes for good reading: nine successive years of economic growth. In the pre-1992 era, Guyana was plummeting deeper into the abyss, and this ascendency and economic turnaround represent a positive reading of Guyana’s history, bearing in mind that it was at one time deemed a Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC).HEALTHY ECONOMIC ATMOSPHERE
What is very noteworthy is the fact that Guyana’s economic growth is being achieved in some very trying circumstances, the minister highlighted. Externally, global financial crises have struck some mighty nations, leading to turbulence at the level of employment and also at the home base. The stories of ‘cutting down’ on expenditures and ‘slashing of jobs’ are all still too common.
Then on the inside, he revisited how the ruling party has been under great duress, from a majority Opposition in the National Assembly, even though its advantage is just by a single seat. Enjoying and abusing this unprecedented permutation, the combination of namely the Alliance For Change (AFC), and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has sung its mantra of blunting development projects; the two have issued constant reminders that this tenor will not change and that they are even going to make it difficult for investors.

In fact, it should be noted that the crucial Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project has borne the brunt of the onslaught from APNU and AFC. President of Sithe Global, Brian Kubeck, always maintained that “a public-private partnership of this magnitude required a national consensus. Alluding to the ‘pull out’, he said Sithe Global needed all three parties in Parliament to back two measures for the US$858M project.
However, at a crucial 2013 session of Parliament, the main Opposition APNU, voted against the two Amaila measures, even though the AFC had changed its position and voted with the PPP/C.
Amidst all of this, by mid-2014, the size of the economy had increased by a whopping 25 percent to $650 billion. Statistics from economic reports show that Guyana has attracted more than US$629 million in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), while credit to the private sector has grown by 41.5 percent to $190.5 billion and total deposits in the commercial banks by 22.1 percent to $334.6 billion.
Minister Singh recapped another negative factor, that is, how the price for gold fell on the international market. He informed his audience how this had a negative impact on the gold sector. The same story holds true for sugar, where the decline was a staggering 60 percent. Where rice is concerned, he explained that the challenge was about jostling for market availability, the unfavourable prices, and late payments.
So to say that Guyana has done well, Dr. Ashni Singh was really making an understatement; Guyana has truly excelled.
In a general analysis, Guyana has been averaging about 5% in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth each year over some time now, and so it is no wonder that the country continues to attract investors, local and foreign, since they see the country as a ‘hot spot’ to invest and do business in.
FUTURE
Dr. Singh, in noting the nine years of consecutive economic growth, not only opined that it was not easy, but he is firm in his conviction that this will not abate as “it remains high on the PPP/C’s agenda.”

“We (the PPP/C) take very seriously our responsibility for ensuring that the economic environment in Guyana will continue to be attractive,” he explained.
This kind of optimism, he stated, is pinned on “Our (PPP/C’s) philosophical position, that is, our duty to create the conditions that are necessary for attracting private investment, stimulating investment by the private sector, and for facilitating growth and expansion, and the creation of jobs, as well as the generation of income.”
According to him, the Government has set about to make Guyana a place for attracting businesses, both for inward foreign investors and also for domestic investors and that “we have seen, I believe, a very tangible demonstration of a favourable response by the investment community, to these favourable conditions that we have created.”
EXAMPLES
“We have seen, for example, very significant Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in a number of sectors, including sectors like natural resources, extractive industries, gold, bauxite, manganese, oil and gas.” In fact, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment predicts that between 2015 and 2020, the Government is potentially looking at an average of US$35 million per annum in natural resources revenues.
“The economy is more diversified than it was or has ever been in history. Today, our people have more access to social services than they ever had, physical infrastructure is more expansive than it has ever been, and I would say that certainly at the start of the 10th Parliament, investors’ confidence in Guyana was at the highest point than it has ever been in our country’s history.”

Commenting on the strong investors’ interest displayed in Guyana, Dr. Singh said, “there have been very significant inflows of capital through Foreign Direct Investment, in addition to very significant volumes of domestic investments, both by the corporate sector and the household sector.”
With this kind of fervour and injection, it is not surprising that Dr. Singh declared that “the productive space (now) is a much wider one and that he is most pleased that “the investment committee has responded as favourable as they have, to the conditions that were created. I would say that the party that I represent in Parliament remains committed to maintaining these conditions, and even further improving them, so that we, the PPP/C, can continue to attract private investments, and we will continue to incentivise and promote private investments to generate growth.”