– Dr. Singh tells global leaders, outlines plans for human capital development

GUYANA remains the fastest growing economy in the world and will remain among the fastest growing economies over the next few years, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, has said.

Driven by the country’s nascent but lucrative petroleum sector and other critical investments in productive economic activities, Guyana is anticipated to lead global growth, even in the face of challenges related to climate change, COVID-19 and general internal bottlenecks.

Minister Singh, in his address to a virtual ministerial conclave on human capital, convened by the World Bank on Monday, said that Guyana is rich in natural resources, including oil, minerals, and forests that cover 85 per cent of the country’s territory, making its economic prospects very promising despite COVID-19 and domestic political issues which caused a sharp contraction in non-oil gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020.

“Our economic prospects have never been brighter. Our collective feet are firmly placed on the first rungs of a ladder to prosperity that is clearly within our sight,” President, Dr Irfaan Ali, had said during his message to the nation on January 1, 2021.

The year 2021, according the President, will be the springboard from which Guyana will leap into recovery, rebuilding the economy, enhancing the people’s health and lifting up the vulnerable in society.

“We must not remain a rich country of poor people,” the President affirmed, noting that the bounty of Guyana must be shared across the population.
It was reported that resilience has been the hallmark of the local economy, as it has withstood the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 pandemic and the protracted March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, to record real GDP growth of 43.5 per cent at the end of last year and still remain on course to grow another 20.9 per cent this year.
Guided by the government’s $383.1 billion Budget 2021, the economy will continue to navigate the pervasive pandemic and, at the same time, recover through prudent management of the productive sectors and the general economy.

But, even with the country’s prospects being bright, Dr. Singh told the virtual caucus: “… we also face extreme vulnerabilities to climate change, as well as significant development challenges. We are well aware of the magnitude of these challenges. They include avoiding the resource curse, promoting a strong and competitive non-oil economy, addressing our infrastructure gap, and improving human development outcomes.”
Speaking on the issue of environmental sustainability, Minister Singh highlighted the role of both the original Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and the potential expanded version of this strategy.

LONGSTANDING
“Guyana’s commitment to low carbon or ‘green’ growth is longstanding. In 2008, we published what we believe was the first low carbon development strategy for a developing country. The LCDS reflected that Guyana is at the intersection of many different aspects of the climate challenge. On the one hand, our low-lying coast means we are heavily impacted by climate change.”

To paint a vivid picture of the impact of climate change on the country, Dr. Singh related some examples, including the 2005 floods, which stymied national development.
“In 2005, floods caused economic damage equivalent to 60 per cent of GDP. On the other hand, our forests make a very substantial contribution in the global fight against climate change. The LCDS paved the way for us to join with Norway in 2009 in the world’s third largest international forest partnership, under which the climate services provided by our forests were remunerated for the first time – making available US$250 million of performance-based payment for climate services to finance climate-friendly investments,” the senior minister said.
Further, he said that the government is now preparing an expanded LCDS which will build on the original LCDS and outline a comprehensive low carbon development agenda for Guyana.
In moving forward, aside from building climate resilience, Minister Singh assured the global leaders that the government has placed the highest level of importance on investing in human capital development.

“Despite the many competing calls on our finite fiscal resources, we are investing heavily in the social sector, as well as in facilitative infrastructure such as information and communications technology.

“For example, in education, we are investing heavily in early childhood education, universal primary and secondary education, improving access to and quality of tertiary education, strengthening technical and vocational education, improving learning outcomes at all levels, and ensuring lifelong learning, supported by the use of information and communication technology based on lessons learnt during COVID-19, and all with the aim of improving production and productivity as well as individual and household well-being.”
He added that too that many of those initiatives are done through collaboration with the World Bank.

“… we expect the education sector to dominate our portfolio of projects with the bank in the next programming cycle… this will be in keeping with our emphasis on human capital development both as an input to, and an outcome of, sustainable economic growth,” Dr. Singh said.

In concluding his presentation, Minister Singh reiterated that the government views human capital development as both a critical prerequisite for economic growth.
The meeting on human capital was attended by President of the World Bank Group, David Malpass, other senior executives of the bank, and several Ministers of Finance from around the world.