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THANK GOODNESS that Guyanese at home and abroad who know better, do not have to be guided by opposition media negative reportage and commentaries on the International Monetary Fund’s ongoing assessments of Guyana’s economic performance and management.
Similarly, it would be misleading, to say the least, to use as guidelines what the parliamentary opposition parties and their supporting cast of ‘media operatives’ often have to pronounce about improvement in social services and the government’s policy on maintaining structured consultations with the private sector and representatives of legitimate and functioning trade unions.
Therefore, those with a keen interest to learn of the IMF’s latest positive assessment of Guyana’s economic management and performance ratings may need to look elsewhere. For a start, both the IMF’s website as well as the office of the Ministry of Finance are obvious references.
Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh himself, known to have deep admiration among decision-makers within the Caribbean Development Bank and the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC), as well as those of the international financial institutions (IFIs) seems ever-ready to take on local challengers on the government’s financial policies and management.
His latest observations when addressing the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association’s Annual Presentation Awards Dinner on Friday evening, was an example of a desire to remain engaged in offering candid assessments, in a spirit of mutual respect, with a view to strengthening private-public sector partnership for national development.
Dr Singh, who clearly prefers to nourish his reputation more as a technocrat than a politician, would have already digested the IMF’s latest report on Guyana’s encouraging GDP of 3.7 percent in 2012 and estimated 5.5 percent for 2013, before addressing the GMSA’s awards-dinner.
His message, which essentially made clear the government’s intention to avoid either any steep tax cuts or embracing, at this stage, the call from the GMSA for reductions in personal income tax, could be viewed as a mix of characteristic candour and an appeal for objective reasoning from a much valued partner in Guyana’s social and economic advancement.
While the Guyana government has rightly avoided any inclination to gloat on economic performances, fully conscious of the volatility of a global environment still to extricate itself from a most depressing recession, the reality is that its CARICOM partners, as well as leading regional institutions and organisations would be quite conscious of this country’s continuing real growth that has emerged as the norm for some five years.
This sustained record of achievement must objectively be shared by the government with ALL stakeholders, foremost among them being the expanding private sector and, of course, the workers employed in the public sector and private enterprises.
In this context, it is good to know that despite fiscal challenges being faced, the government has decided to offer an across-the-board five percent pay hike to public servants, arrangements for which have been disclosed to the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) amid prevailing satisfaction with the Guyana-IMF tango .
Similarly, it would be misleading, to say the least, to use as guidelines what the parliamentary opposition parties and their supporting cast of ‘media operatives’ often have to pronounce about improvement in social services and the government’s policy on maintaining structured consultations with the private sector and representatives of legitimate and functioning trade unions.
Therefore, those with a keen interest to learn of the IMF’s latest positive assessment of Guyana’s economic management and performance ratings may need to look elsewhere. For a start, both the IMF’s website as well as the office of the Ministry of Finance are obvious references.
Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh himself, known to have deep admiration among decision-makers within the Caribbean Development Bank and the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC), as well as those of the international financial institutions (IFIs) seems ever-ready to take on local challengers on the government’s financial policies and management.
His latest observations when addressing the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association’s Annual Presentation Awards Dinner on Friday evening, was an example of a desire to remain engaged in offering candid assessments, in a spirit of mutual respect, with a view to strengthening private-public sector partnership for national development.
Dr Singh, who clearly prefers to nourish his reputation more as a technocrat than a politician, would have already digested the IMF’s latest report on Guyana’s encouraging GDP of 3.7 percent in 2012 and estimated 5.5 percent for 2013, before addressing the GMSA’s awards-dinner.
His message, which essentially made clear the government’s intention to avoid either any steep tax cuts or embracing, at this stage, the call from the GMSA for reductions in personal income tax, could be viewed as a mix of characteristic candour and an appeal for objective reasoning from a much valued partner in Guyana’s social and economic advancement.
While the Guyana government has rightly avoided any inclination to gloat on economic performances, fully conscious of the volatility of a global environment still to extricate itself from a most depressing recession, the reality is that its CARICOM partners, as well as leading regional institutions and organisations would be quite conscious of this country’s continuing real growth that has emerged as the norm for some five years.
This sustained record of achievement must objectively be shared by the government with ALL stakeholders, foremost among them being the expanding private sector and, of course, the workers employed in the public sector and private enterprises.
In this context, it is good to know that despite fiscal challenges being faced, the government has decided to offer an across-the-board five percent pay hike to public servants, arrangements for which have been disclosed to the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) amid prevailing satisfaction with the Guyana-IMF tango .
