Granger pleads for greater concessional financing from int’l community

…while using “sovereignty” to deny their concern over democracy

Even while accusing the international community of “interfering” with Guyana’s sovereignty, caretaker President David Granger is now begging them to assist with financial aid.

Granger has been criticising the international community for speaking out against undemocratic processes in Guyana – whereby there were attempts to rig the elections and deny the will of the people.
In his message to the United Nations forum on Thursday, Granger pleaded for greater concessional financing from the international community.

“We commend and thank the Governments and institutions which have supported the flow of needed resources to small states like ours so far. We recognize that more must be done,” Granger contended. said.
He further stated that the country has been strained to protect its population from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), as migrants and the provision of effective healthcare to them added another facet to the situation.
He shared these remarks during a discussion with other Head of States, through the UN in efforts to advance concrete solutions to the development emergency posed by the COVID-19 crisis.
The high-level meeting was convened by Prime Ministers of Canada and Jamaica along with UN Secretary General António Guterres to tackle critical finance issues to address economic devastation caused by COVID-19 and resources for development beyond this era.
Granger said, “Guyana, one of the smallest States in the continent of South America, borders countries which have high incidence of COVID-19. Migrants seek refuge, enter our territories in areas which necessitate the need for effective health services over long distances and remote settlements. These factors impact the State’s ability to protect its people from disease and to earn revenue to maintain its economy.”
He went on to say that for now, a structural system was needed to save small States like Guyana. However, the country can only focus on a response system to the coronavirus pandemic and work on a plan for future happenings.
“Guyana is a small developing State, whose many challenges have been compounded by its need to combat COVID-19 pandemic. Small States need structured and sturdy systems to save lives and support lives and livelihood. In the medium and long terms, [they] must build capacity to respond effectively and efficiently when faced with health crises which are predicted to occur more frequently in the future,” the caretaker President said.
He added, “In the long term, you must achieve food security by sustaining agriculture, manufacturing services so that when our economy reopens, our public and private sectors would be capable of rapid production and progress. In the short term, however, we are obliged to respond to the urgent, unavoidable and unanticipated effects of COVID-19.”
The engagement gave world leaders an opportunity to express their commitment to decisively facilitate global solutions to address the global economic crisis and its effects on the most vulnerable.
Most of them recognised that poverty was rising where unemployment soared, necessitating urgent intervention. The pandemic has also impeded investments in almost every sector. Most of them highlighted the need for effective financing solutions, which was at the core of this engagement.
Six issues were the focus, namely to: expand liquidity in the global economy and maintain financial stability to safeguard development gains; the need to address debt vulnerabilities for all developing countries to save lives and livelihoods for billions of people around the world: the need to create a space in which Private Sector creditors can proactively engage in effective and timely solutions; prerequisites for enhancing external finance for inclusive growth and creating jobs, including lowering the transaction costs of remittances; measures to expand fiscal space and foster domestic resource mobilisation by preventing illicit financial flows and ensuring a sustainable and inclusive recovery by aligning recovery policies with the Sustainable Development Goals.