-PPP/C drove Guyana’s transformation, set stage for sustained global investors’ confidence and growth
-Finance Minister says
GUYANA’S current economic success is owed to leadership that Minister with responsibility for Finance in the Office of the President, Dr Ashni Singh, said has brought the nation “from the brink” of bankruptcy to the world’s fastest-growing economy.
Speaking on the most recent episode of the ‘Starting Point’ podcast on Sunday, Minister Singh attributed Guyana’s development and economic success to the leadership and vision of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), noting that this leadership and vision is what has driven unprecedented development and the uptick in foreign direct investment and economic success.
Recounting Guyana’s economic history, Minister Singh shared that during the 1970s and 1980s, and towards 1990, Guyana had gone ‘beyond the brink of bankruptcy.’
He noted that when the People’s Progressive Party/Civic government assumed office in 1992, the immediate task at hand was to bring Guyana back from this struggling economic state. This involved restoring the nation’s standing amongst the global community of nations, rebuilding the institutions of state, and restoring fiscal solvency as a country.
Sharing insight into the work the governing body did during that time, he noted, “We went through several years of initially, IMF programmes, structural adjustment programmes, mobilisation of concessional financing,” adding, “At that time, putting ourselves in a position that would make us eligible for debt relief, making ourselves eligible and qualifying ourselves for additional financing, all within the context, like [sic] I said, of restoring fiscal solvency and the effort to achieving fiscal sustainability. And those were tough years, but we did the hard work.”
Noting the work done by the PPP/C leaders, both past and present, Minister Singh added that this signalled the first change in how Guyana was viewed and engaged with on the international stage.
He highlighted that Guyana’s engagement with the international community at the time was characterised by the implementation of significant structural reforms and mobilising primarily concessional financing.
He noted, “We implemented a lot of very tough reforms. We did a lot of hard work to make Guyana an attractive place for international investors and also domestic investors to invest their capital.”
The senior government official in noting the impact of this work said, “It is that work that led us to this point where we are today. And we must never forget that period and the effort involved and the work that was involved in getting us to that point or getting us to the point where we are today.”
Since then, Minister Singh noted that Guyana’s economy has developed into the world’s fastest-growing economy, an accomplishment that is reflected in national interest and investment in Guyana. This effort and work by the party have made Guyana an attractive destination for investment, having attracted investors, including in the oil and gas industry, which led ExxonMobil to do exploration.
Minister Singh noted that this growth is not just impressive at the regional level, but at the international level as well. “Having done that work, we are today in a place where Guyana is and has been the fastest-growing economy in the world, has been growing, has been outperforming. Not only outperforming all competitors, but has been dominating global economic growth performance and global economic growth projections.”
Citing the recent economic outlooks published by the International Monetary Fund for the Western Hemisphere, the World Economic Outlook published also by the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC), he said shows that Guyana is outperforming every other country in the hemisphere in terms of real economic growth.
PROSPECTIVE AND IMPACTFUL
Minister Singh further noted that this outlook is not just historic, but it is also prospective, adding that this reflects more than simple growth statistics, but a reality that is being lived and felt by the Guyanese people.
This, he added, is change and a reality that the global community recognises and has tremendous respect for, adding, “The international community knows that this story is about a sustained effort to build an attractive destination for investment, a sustained effort to build a conducive policy framework to preserve not only macroeconomic stability, but to be able to realise sustainable macroeconomic growth, and to preserve and protect our macroeconomic fundamentals for long-term sustainability.”
Further, he said, “The international community knows this because they too have been in this journey. They have seen the journey that Guyana has travelled from very tough times to now these very different economic circumstances.”
This development has also been proven to be impactful in sectors outside of oil and gas, Minister Singh said, noting that the international investment community sees Guyana as one of the most attractive places to put their investment dollars.
He noted that this is being seen across sectors, and certainly not just in oil and gas. He explained that while Guyana has seen massive interest and support from some of the world’s biggest oil and gas agencies, equal development is happening across sectors.
Citing the agriculture and tourism sectors, he added, “In the agricultural space, you have international investors like [sic] Blumberg Grains coming to partner with us in the development of the regional food hub,” he said adding, “In the tourism and hospitality space, you have global and regional investors coming to invest in the tourism and hospitality space.”
This change also translates directly to the Guyanese people. While Guyana has become an investment destination for foreign investment, it has also fostered new investment opportunities for local entrepreneurs and businesses.
He shared, “More and more Guyanese investors and more and more Guyanese entrepreneurs are also seeing Guyana as the most attractive place to live, invest, work, and like [sic] I said, even potentially to learn, retire. More Guyanese people are recognising this. And you see this with the growth of Guyanese entrepreneurship.”
This is evident in the number of Guyanese businesses that are establishing themselves or growing, raising capital, growing their businesses, entering strategic partnerships and entering joint ventures with international companies.
