Mr. EMILE Mervin has already said that he does not have any real “figures” to quote in his debate with Prem Misir about Guyana borrowing money as it received debt write-off. That means that he does not really know what he is talking about. And, he may then choose to shift the goal-post to bring in other “issues” to hid his ignorance about Guyana affairs.

While Mr. Emile Mervin contends that the government borrowed money (or, rather President Jagdeo borrowed money) for Guyana’s development he clearly misses two very important points.

The first is the pre-1992 the foreign debt to GDP ratio was about US$2100M:US$400M or Foreign debt was over 5.25 times bigger than the GDP of our country. Today, this ratio is about US$875M US$1134M or Foreign Debt is only 0.77 times GDP.

The second is, foreign international institutions do not just lend countries and Presidents monies just because a country follows an IMF (International Monetary Fund) plans. Every lending organisation separately rates the ability of the borrower to repay their loans. Unless the lending institution is satisfied of a country repaying its loans they just will not lend because the IMF plan is followed.

Another factor that Mr. Emile Mervin needs enlightening on is that in 1992 Guyana Foreign Debt was US$2,100M. However, since Mr. Emile Mervin may choose to quote “purchasing power of Guyana dollar in his debates” it is wise to quote that the purchasing power of the American dollar has fallen in the last 16 years such that a US$2100M debt in 1992 is equivalent to about US$3,500M today. Simple put, Mr Emile Mervin believes that borrowing US$2,100M pre-1992 is equivalent to borrowing US$2,100M in 2009.

The real factor to consider is the Debt to GDP ratio. Pre-1992, it was over 5.25 (nearer 7.0) while today it is 0.77.
NAME WITHELD