– exploitation should be done on Guyana’s terms

AS the world economy continues to grapple with the shocks from financial crises, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is welcoming Guyana’s potential oil discovery which should be exploited on the country’s terms.

This was the view of newly-appointed Chairman of CARICOM and Prime Minister of Belize, Dean Oliver Barrow, during his address Monday last at the 27th Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM.
Though much of his address focused on the correspondent banking scenario, he weighed in generally on the economic climate which the region currently finds itself in.
Characterized by slow growth, increasing difficulties with its public finances, and tremendous strain on its capacity to satisfy the life-improvement aspirations of its people, some Caribbean countries have failed to recover from global economic setbacks, Barrow said. This financial crisis began in the last part of the first decade of this new century. And while a few countries have shown substantial enough expansion, he noted that much of the net effect has been depreciated by population increases.

TOURISM INDUSTRY
But on the brighter side, he noted that there appears to be what the region hopes will be a sustained resurgence in its “all-important tourism industry”. This, the Chairman said, would be a welcome offset to the continued volatility in the region’s commodities sector.

PETROLEUM IN GUYANA
Meanwhile, he suggested that the global oil price rout has, in particular, been a double-edged sword for a couple of countries in the region. And with this being the case, he noted that the regional bloc salutes the recent petroleum discoveries in Guyana and look forward to the country being able to exploit those resources on its own terms.
“And we welcome the benefit to consumers that cheaper fuel has brought,” he said, adding that at the same time Belize regrets the effect that both the contraction of production and the precipitate price drop have had on the country.
Further, he noted that the oil conundrum has severely constrained the flow of resources to countries that participate in the PetroCaribe arrangements. And this, he said, is in consequence of the “havoc” done to Venezuela, the source of the region’s erstwhile bounty.
“To compound matters, it is clear that the oil price phenomenon is symptomatic of the more generalized weakening, to which I earlier alluded, in commodities markets. This worsens the crisis situation in public finances in certain parts of the Euro-zone, so that altogether there appears to be a distinct possibility of the world economy sliding back into recession. The consequences that would entail for our region are both obvious and frightening,” the Chairman said.