The David Granger-led Administration has been repeatedly criticised over what some describe as its inept management of the local economy, which has in several ways led to a slowdown in commercial activities across Guyana. This
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo
slowdown is now reportedly threatening activities in interior locations.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo maintains there are several factors that have contributed to this state of affairs, chief of which is because Government is not interested in private sector development. He has thus warned organisations to be “extremely careful” and not be fooled by the promises of this ruling administration.
“When they invite these ministers to give these lofty speeches and nice photo opportunities — as though they are concerned about private sector development in Guyana, when the reality on the ground in the lives of their constituent members are very different than what these people say — there is a big disconnect,” Jagdeo said, making reference to the recent Guyana Manufacturing Association event.
Drawing media attention to the recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) report which pointed out deficiencies in the local financial system, Jagdeo said the report raised significant alarm bells in the Finance Ministry, and highlighted that bad debts continue to grow because of problems in the sector.
“Bad debts could be a problem in the future. Government is rapidly accumulating debts, and this could move from 50-60 percent by 2019,” he posited.
Jagdeo had only recently placed Guyanese on notice to prepare for bitter days ahead because of the alleged mismanagement, incompetence, and political hardline positions that the APNU/AFC (A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change) Coalition Government continues to take.
Claiming that the Guyanese economy is slowly shrinking, Jagdeo contends that unemployment is higher, income inequality is rising, and the Guyana middle class is shrinking.
“Every time we were in Government, we always had a positive attitude to the future: we will come to you and talk about our plans for the future. When I come here tonight, the only message I can bring to you is a sad message: that things are going to get significantly worse in your lives and in the lives of Guyanese, before it gets better when the PPP resumes office,” he told a recent political meeting.
Jagdeo has said that while the coalition Government remains in office, it will continue to generate excuses as to why the Guyanese economy is floundering and why people are losing jobs, rather than tackling the fundamental problems. He said people’s lives will change only for the worse.
Pointing to the 200 new tax measures that were introduced last year, the former Head of State said they have not yet kicked in fully; but when they do, Guyanese will feel the squeeze.
“You will see the cost of living going up; the business community will be unable to survive in the new tax environment,” he predicted. He noted also that with constant harassment from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), businesses will not feel driven to invest and create more jobs in the future.
“So you would see not only deterioration in terms of cost of living going up, but less jobs being produced in the future, because no one wants to invest in this country. And right now people are losing jobs, rather than them (Government) creating jobs that they promised,” he further argued.
As a trained Economist, Jagdeo also highlighted that when the new policy measures taken in the sugar industry take effect this year-end, there will be more chaos in Guyana, more particularly in communities that depend heavily on the sugar industry for their survival.
