SINCE the PPP/C took office in 1992, Guyana commenced upon a journey towards substantive development that all Guyanese can and will benefit from. The years immediately following the 1992 elections that removed the PNC from office and restored democracy to Guyana were critical.
These were the years when the country’s economy was rendered completely lifeless. Guyana was plunged into a $2.1 billion debt which left this country financially paralyzed, and it took at least 10 years for the economy to be revived before we moved forward financially as a nation.

In his book ‘The West on Trial’, Dr. Cheddi Jagan quoted Carl Greenidge, the country’s Minister of Finance at the time, in his 1984 budget speech, as saying that “the production sector of Guyana has undergone a marked decline over the last three years. All appears very daunting. I can offer no comforting solution which will allow us to survive and prosper.” This is mere confirmation of the economic collapse that Guyana had to be brought out of before it could gain any financial footing for itself. This was the PPP/C’s responsibility to accomplish, and that responsibility was taken seriously. Stringent economic reform policies were adopted and implemented.
The PPP, in collaboration with the IMF, implemented and executed stringent economic strategies to correct the collapsing economy which they inherited from the PNC. Consequent upon those policies, our economy has survived economic shocks that left many developed countries in economic shambles.

After the 2005 ‘great floods’, it was hard to imagine that Guyana would ever recover economically, but surprisingly, at the end of 2005, the economy recorded a GDP growth rate of 5.4%, with the GDP diminishing by only 3 %. Also, Guyana survived the global rise in fuel and food prices that started at the beginning of 2008, when Food prices in Guyana increased by 27%. The Government’s initiative of increasing the tax threshold by 25% from $28,000 to $35,000 per month and removing the value added tax (VAT) from many items played an important role in stabilizing the economy at that time. The economy enjoyed a 2.3% growth rate in 2009, and in 2010, it grew by 3%.
There is something to be said for maintaining a stable economy in the midst of global economic chaos, and unforeseen and uncontrollable circumstances. The current administration has successfully managed to stabilise and maintain Guyana’s budding economy.