–VP Jagdeo emphasises, highlights party’s sound, realistic policies

WITHOUT sound fiscal management, Guyana’s long-term prosperity can fall through, Vice-President and People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has said, noting that key risks such as over reliance on oil revenues can derail the nation’s progress.

At the launch of the PPP/C’s manifesto on Monday at the Pegasus Suites and Corporate Centre Kingston, Dr. Jagdeo said that the government goes beyond promises, and noted that it has tailored sustainable development strategies to serve the nation.

He said: “Unlike other parties, I know anyone in Guyana or anywhere in the world, you can go on ChatGPT and type in ‘produce a manifesto for me’ and there it will come up with a manifesto… But to craft a plan for the country, you have to situate it in the realities of that particular country and the challenges that the country will face.”
The PPP/C’s policies, he said, are implemented in the context in which they do not put the country at risk.

Macro-economic management has always been a key focus of the PPP/C, as the Vice-President said that it was his party that took Guyana out of the pitfall of debt that the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) regime had placed the nation in.

“Macro-economic management is the fundamental to the success of all sectoral and regional policies, and we’ve demonstrated over decades that we are capable of managing in that manner today, long before oil, we fixed all of those things,” he said.

Aside from sound macro-economic management framework, he noted that Guyana runs the risk of falling prey to the Dutch Disease since it is an oil producing nation.
But, the PPP/C has focused and will continue to focus on diversifying the economy, he said, referencing several new growth poles that will create the wealth of the future, from the hospitality sector to agriculture to biotechnology to the connection with Brazil.

As he spoke about other risks, the Vice-President said: “If your plans are not flexible, and they don’t take into account the international variable, which he (President Irfaan Ali) spoke of, the changes in the global financial system, the changes in the world trading system, the political events in the world that can rapidly have an impact, here in Guyana.
“For example, when the war between Russia and Ukraine started, the serious escalation in fuel crisis. If the national plan doesn’t account for those variables, and they are lopsided, then you can be harmed immeasurably.”

Moreover, the Vice-President noted that there are three sets of goals that the PPP/C is aiming to achieve within their next term in office.
Speaking about how the PPP/C has grown as a formidable force, the Vice-President said that the Guyanese people have seen how the party is one that stays true to its commitments and continues to be a national movement that aims to unite all.

He further highlighted how the PPP/C kept its 2020 manifesto commitments, noting: “They’ve seen we’re trustworthy, that we’ll keep our promises to all the people of the country, as we did every promise that’s listed in our manifesto in 2020. They were deliberately put there, and we have implemented them, and because we have implemented them in an equitable, fair manner,

people have seen the true nature of this party, and more and more people are attracted not only to our vision, but to the collective that combined, unified collective that we operate.”
He also spoke about more social services, expanded business support and community-based issues being targeted.