– PSC Chairman ,  representatives meet President
CHAIRMAN  of  the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Ramesh Dookhoo, reported small but noticeable deceleration of some indicators in the economy as a result of the unprecedented cuts to the 2012 national budget. Dookhoo, accompanied by members of the private sector to a meeting with President Donald Ramotar Thursday, told the Government Information Agency (GINA) that although the symptoms are not overly alarming, they are  ‘showing up more and more every day.’
“We are already getting reports that the smaller businesses are being
affected,” Dookhoo explained, although he maintained that his character as a “supreme optimist” remains unchanged.
“I believe that there will be ways forward and we have explored some of these… many of my colleagues are also very optimistic… I think we all need to put Guyana first as we all say we will do, and to have the situation going on and on is perhaps going to be detrimental to us in the private sector,” the PSC Chairman said.
The private sector prides itself as a major contributor to the economy; especially in the area of annual gross revenues, which Dookhoo said, is now at its highest figure.
Hailed as one of the engines of growth, the private sector convened a series of engagements with politicians, including those in the government, to vent their concerns about the budget cuts and their effects on the economy and the private sector.
“That will affect spending in the private sector, and spending in the economy. It is bound to affect us at some point in time. We are also concerned about the effects on the transformative projects, the hydropower and other such projects,” Dookhoo said.
The apparent impasse in the Parliament, “where the buck stops” ,so to speak has also been of great concern and, Dookhoo said the private sector will make diligent efforts to bring such concerns to the attention to the opposition coalition party, A Partnership for National
Unity (APNU).
“We do not want to sit back and allow this impasse to go on,” Dookhoo said.
Last month the opposition political parties severed $21B from the 2012 national budget, using their one-seat advantage in the National Assembly, threatening the operations and very existence of some crucial government sectors and programmes.
Among these are the Low Carbon Development Strategy, which lost $18B, the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC), the Government Information Agency (GINA), the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU), and the State Planning Secretariat, all of which were left with one dollar.
Two days ago the ERC announced that staff members are yet to be paid their May salaries, fearing a standstill or total collapse if the entity is without a budget.