GUYANA has been on an upward growth trajectory for several years now with an average annual growth rate of about 4.5 per cent in Gross Domestic (GDP), but in just a few weeks of the new Administration, it is being claimed that the treasury is broke, there is no money to pay rice farmers and billions have disappeared. As such, one has to wonder how come Guyana has survived all these years if one is to believe “these ridiculous statements.”

At least this is according to economist on the now Opposition People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), Dr. Peter Ramsaroop, who during a recent interview with the Chronicle said bluntly: “I believe it demonstrates incompetence.”
Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency, Lieutenant Colonel (rtd) Joseph Harmon on Thursday last met with members of the local media corps and said the newly elected A Partnership for National Unity, Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Government has essentially found the “cupboard bare.”

He was making reference to the state of affairs of the nation’s finances and expanded on recent lamentations by Finance Minister Winston Jordan.
According to Harmon, the Petrocaribe initiative which generated a local fund, was found to be essentially bankrupt and that Government would have to, in the near future, find some US$15M to pay rice farmers.
This, he said, is in addition to the fact that the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has sufficient funds to meet payments for two more weeks in addition to a number of bank accounts holding monies outside of the treasury.
Minister Harmon told media operatives: “The fact of the matter is based on the very casual and callous manner in which the previous Administration dealt with the proceeds from that arrangement, that the fund was almost bankrupt, there is nothing in it.”
He added, “As it stands right now, the situation with the export of paddy, export of rice to Venezuela is that we’re actually going to have to find somewhere in the vicinity of US$15M to basically pay our farmers when they ship the next set of rice to Venezuela.”
The ousted PPP/C for its part has since sought to defend the state of the Petrocaribe fund saying all of the monies have been accounted for.
According to a missive issued by the PPP/C subsequent to Minister Harmon’s disclosure, detailed records exist and can be made public on every single inflow into the fund and every single outflow from the fund.
The PPP/C explained that put simply, monies are deposited into the fund when Guyana imports oil from Venezuela under the PetroCaribe arrangement and those monies are managed by the Bank of Guyana.
On the matter of the bank accounts containing money, which Harmon contends should be in the Consolidated Fund, the PPP/C said as far back as 2010 and as recently as 2014, the then Government was closing dormant bank accounts and transferring balances to the Consolidated Fund.
Dr. Ramsaroop, in following up on his party’s position has since contended that the APNU+AFC Government has in fact come to be in control of a “great Inheritance.”
He exhorts, “Don’t screw it up.”
Qualifying his position, the PPP/C economist firstly stated that it is very normal in any change of Administration for major criticism and political bashing to take place and in the Guyana post- 2015 election context, “It is no different…Daily, we find officials pronouncing they either found money in the treasury or they have no money, they seem unsure which one to use on any given day.”
Ramsaroop contends that the APNU+AFC supporters wait for “these inconsistent statements in order to rationalise to themselves that all is good, even though many of their elections promises were all meant to be gimmicks.”
Seeking to point to the APNU+AFC inheritance, as he put it, Dr. Ramsaroop pointed to key instructive indicators that the PPP/C left such as positive real growth in GDP every year from 2006 to 2014 at an average of more than 4.5 percent per annum— the longest period of uninterrupted growth in the history of independent Guyana.
He noted too that GDP at current market prices in 2014 was US$3.1B as against the US$1.4B figure in 2006, indicating that the economy has more than doubled in size during that period. Dr. Ramsaroop pointed too to gross international reserves at the Bank of Guyana of US$665.6M -equivalent to more than three months of imports – at the end of 2014, compared with US$251.4M at the end of 2005.
He referred too to the more than US$500M more in concessional resources secured to finance development projects, including:US$130M from the China Eximbank to construct a new international airport; US$66.2M from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to fund a road network upgrade and expansion project; US$64.6 million from the IDB and the European Union (EU) to fund a power utility upgrade programme; US$50M from India Eximbank to fund the East Coast to East Bank bypass road; US$34.4M from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to fund the West Coast Demerara highway upgrade project; US$31.7 million from the IDB and EU to fund a water and sanitation infrastructure improvement project and US$12M from the World Bank for a flood- risk management project among others.
The PPP/C, he said, has also encouraged significant, large- scale foreign direct investment into Guyana, setting the stage for rapid growth going forward, including major oil and gas- exploration at an advanced stage, including Exxon/Esso, Repsol and CGX; major gold mines about to commence production include Guyana Goldfields Limited/AGM, ETK/Sandsprings and Troy Resources, among those in search for minerals such as Reunion Manganese and First Bauxite, among others.
He pointed too to large- scale agricultural projects such as the Santa Fe farms and progress in information and communications technology leading to investments by companies such as Qualfon and Teleperformance.
Dr. Ramsaroop has since contended: “All of these developments provide ample testimony to the excellent stewardship of the Guyanese economy discharged by the PPP/C Government, managed by Dr. Ashni Singh, and the strong position of the economy as the PPP/C demits office.”
According to Dr. Ramsaroop, “It is easy to say one is broke, when in fact the lack of understanding [of] what to do to manage a growing economy and continue to create revenues is more [of] what we are witnessing.”

By Gary Eleazar