– says PM, despite downward revision of projected growth rate

PRIME Minister Moses Nagamootoo has said that while the expected growth in Guyana from oil and gas has been revised downwards due to the global effects of COVID-19, Guyana is still well on the path to great economic development.

He made the foregoing observation on Wednesday on two separate live-streamed Trinidad and Tobago television programmes, namely ‘TT Live Online’ and ‘CNC3 Television’, where he spoke to the still-positive expectations for Guyana despite the global crisis occasioned by the advent of the deadly novel coronavirus, codenamed COVID-19.

In a recent report, the World Bank revised its previously projected growth for Guyana, initially pegged at 86 per cent in a particular year, to 50 per cent. As was only to be expected, the revision was caused by the incomplete general and regional elections, the adverse effects of COVID-19, and falling oil prices.

As he told CNC3: “We would have not even anticipated that we could grow by 50 per cent; when we were told about the 86 per cent growth in a particular year, we felt that we had hit bonanza. We have survived with much less in the past.”

He said Guyana has not detected any downturn in production in its oil-and-gas sector, as certain offshore and onshore activities are still in operation. He pointed out that the sector has recently been listed as “essential”, which allows it to operate 24/7, as it is still the new “bedrock” of Guyana’s economy.

“We know of no measures that could affect production,” he said, adding: “However, we’ve seen the impact on the cut-back in production, as well as the fall in price, and we expect to have between 20 to 40 per cent less revenue than we had anticipated.”

Even so, he explained that before Guyana found oil, it had long survived on just agriculture and mining.
Using as a typical example the tendency of gold prices to trend upwards and guarantee revenue flow in that specific area of the economy, Minister Nagamootoo said:

“We are looking towards the oil sector, but oil has to be complemented with soil. We have a diverse economy; we are rich in agriculture… For example, last year Guyana had one of the highest rice productions.”

But for all the optimism, he said that Guyana is still engaged with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for possible financial support.

TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

In his interview with TTT Live Online, Minister Nagamootoo, who heads Guyana’s COVID-19 Task Force, spoke of what the Government of Guyana has been doing to facilitate travel out of the country, without posing any undue health risks.

“It’s not easy” he said, “because, every day, I receive requests from all and sundry that we should open the border for one reason or the other; to bring in cargo; to bring in special workers; to take them out, etcetera.

“We allowed international flights to proceed upon request; we have about 1,000 American nationals that have gone back home by special flights, and they have to observe meticulous procedures, that no crew member, no cabin attendant would deplane, and would just pick their passengers up and take off. We have Canadians who have gone back; there’s [another] flight very shortly, and there are others who have gone through Suriname to Europe.”

He us the opportunity to inform his audience that many of Guyana’s COVID-19 cases were imports, which caused the country to have to put strict measures in place to protect those of its borders that are porous, land-locked as we are with neighbouring Venezuela, Brazil and Suriname.

REGIONAL COOPERATION

He acknowledged that Guyana has been accorded the full cooperation of Regional authorities to ensure that the travel restrictions remain in place on their ends.

Like many other countries, Guyana has had to deal with deciding on whether or how it can facilitate the return of nationals who are trapped in other countries with no means of returning home.

The PM said that this, too, has been difficult, as, for example, there are more than 300,000 Guyanese residing in New York alone where the effects of the virus have been biting deep.

He explained: “We would want them to come back home, but because of the peculiarity of our health system, we have been setting up alternative facilities to quarantine people who come in; to put some in mandatory isolation. But we don’t have the capacity that we can place people in quarantine or isolation in large numbers, so we’re asking them to sit it out a while longer, until we get past this first phase.”

EMERGENCY MEASURES

Nagamootoo reminded that the emergency measures currently in place are not permanent and will be modified based on Guyana’s developing situation.

When it comes to matters internally, with the established curfew of 6am to 6pm, the Prime Minister said that compliance stands at between 90 – 100 per cent, which, though commendable, is still short of the ideal standard.

He noted that it is unfortunate that Guyana’s electoral challenges are taking place simultaneous to one of the greatest pandemics that the world has grappled with.

Even so, he noted that it is important for Guyana to settle its electoral matters in a timely manner as COVID-19 has the potential to destabilise any economy.