FINANCE Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh has strongly defended the public debt of US$1.7 billion by saying that the monies borrowed have been used responsibly and there is much to show for it.

In response to a question posed by a reporter during a live press conference in the National Communication Network’s (NCN’s) television studio last Saturday, the minister emphasised that data on Guyana’s external and domestic indebtedness have consistently been made available to the public.
He said the budget speech each year contains a series of tables, including one that is completely devoted to Guyana’s external debt; and statistical tables published on the Bank of Guyana’s website, including quarterly tables that are publicly available, also include statistics on external and domestic public debt.
“I want to make the point that the numbers reported are by no means ‘news’, they have been in the public domain for a very long time; and I don’t want anyone to go away with the mistake and impression that some new information has been put in the public domain as a result of the question asked in Parliament,” he said.
Alliance For Change (AFC) Member of Parliament Moses Nagamootoo asked the Finance Minister, in the last sitting of the National Assembly, what the public debt was in 2012, as compared to 2002. The required information was supplied by the minister.
During Saturday’s media briefing, Dr. Singh disclosed that Guyana’s total indebtedness is significantly less than it was in nominal terms; that is, US$1.7 billion in 2012 as against US$2.1 billion 20 years ago.
“The fact that we owe nominal today, in US$ terms, significantly less than we did 20 years ago, alone is a statement of accomplishment as it relates to this government. Bear in mind that in 1992, when US$2.1 billion was owed by the state, that at that time there was nothing to show for this indebtedness,” he stressed.
According to Minister Singh, what was particularly noteworthy about the level of Guyana’s indebtedness in 1992 was that the People’s National Congress (PNC) government, with Mr. Carl Greenidge as its Finance Minister, had accumulated an indebtedness of US$2.1 billion, but there was nothing to show for it.
He noted that the public treasury had virtually no money in it, the external reserves were virtually at a balance of zero, and the physical and social assets of the country were being depleted to nothing.
“…our roads were in a state of dilapidation, our schools and our hospitals were falling apart, and our institutions were virtually non-existent. And so, what you had in 1992 was an accumulation of debt with nothing to show for that debt that had been accumulated,” he explained.
Dr. Singh said that was the situation inherited by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government in 1992, and advised that the government not only had to rebuild the country, which involved new borrowing, but also had to restore the country’s credit worthiness.
“We had, first of all, to resume our engagement with the international community. We had to work in earnest to demonstrate that we were committed to responsible policies; we had to articulate a policy framework to convince the global environment that we were once again a country of some integrity,” he stated.
As a result of this, he noted, the PPP administration had access to new borrowing, and the country was once again deemed creditworthy. He added that Guyana started repaying debts and advocating for debt relief; and that, 20 years later, the result is a country that is vastly improved.
He pointed out that investment made in several sectors can be seen, such as the building of new schools and roads; and that external reserves are at the highest point ever, in excess of US$800M.
“That is what is different today from 1992. So not only do you owe less, but you have more to show from what you have borrowed…The monies borrowed have been used responsibly on initiatives that are visible, tangible, and that can be seen,” the Finance Minister remarked.

ATTEMPTS TO MISLEAD
Meanwhile, Dr. Singh has described recent comments on Guyana’s public debt by AFC Member of Parliament, Moses Nagamootoo as that MP’s latest attempt to mislead the Guyanese people.
Minister Singh said that Nagamootoo has a rapidly accumulating track record of deviation from the truth and, on this occasion, he has once again painted a misleading picture, this time in relation to Guyana’s indebtedness, either deliberately to score cheap political points by factual distortion, or accidentally by venturing outside the boundaries of his competence.
In relation to Nagamootoo’s statements reported in the February 10, 2013 issue of Kaieteur News, the minister said these statements attempt to deceive the reader by blatantly misrepresenting the facts as they relate to Guyana’s debt and economic situation. Mr. Nagamootoo’s assertion that Guyana’s debt is “at its highest” simply lacks substance and constitutes economic sabotage and slander since it gives a negative impression of Guyana to investors and creditors alike.
According to Dr. Singh, the facts are clear as day. Guyana’s debt levels are much lower now than they were in 1992, and more importantly, the current debt levels are sustainable, meaning that we are now able to repay our debt without economic strain which is in stark contrast to the debt in 1992, which was completely unsustainable since the country could not afford to meet its debt payment obligations.
Dr. Singh said a simple comparison of the public debt in Guyana dollar equivalent is misleading, since it does not take into account the movement of the exchange rate to the US dollar over the years, or the growth that has occurred in the economy over the years. As such, a comparison of the debt using US dollars amount would be more accurate. “It is an insult to the intelligence of readers for Mr. Nagamootoo to claim that “the country’s debt is at its highest” despite recognising that the total Public Debt at September 30, 1992, amounted to US$2.1 billion and that this figure had been significantly reduced to US$1.7 billion as at March 31, 2012,” the Finance Minister stated.
In concluding his remarks, Minister Singh called on Mr. Nagamootoo to desist from making statements about matters with which he either has limited familiarity, or on which he has conducted limited research, and to confine himself to factual representations on all matters. Failing this, Minister Singh stated, Mr. Nagamootoo’s rapidly growing reputation as a stranger to truth would be further reinforced.