Public Sector lacks capacity to implement projects – analyst

IMF report

The decline in public investment in Guyana is mainly a result of the poor implementation capacity within the Public Sector and the lack of properly qualified engineers, project managers and specialists within this sector, overseas-based Guyanese financial analyst and former Alliance For Change (AFC) Executive Member Sasenarine Singh has said.

Singh made these comments against the backdrop of the recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) report, which alluded to the fact that “delays in public investment weighed down on activity”. The financial expert says that the powers that be in the Finance Ministry seem lost on the fact that there has been a significant drop in Public Sector savings over 2016.
The IMF 2017 Staff Report on Guyana highlighted the fact that Public Sector savings declined from 4.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2015 to 3.4 per cent of GDP in 2016. According to Singh, “What I found alarming, is the rate of decline in the Public Sector saving in the first three months of 2017.”
The Bank of Guyana’s First Quarter 2017 Report also highlighted the fact that “the Public Sector (net) credit position worsened by 70.9 per cent to G$11,845 million from G$6929 million at end-2016 mainly on account of a reduction in the deposits of the non-financial public enterprises. And the net savings in the public enterprises decreased by 23.8 per cent in the first three months of 2017.
But, according to Singh, the Administration seems to be struggling to make progress on major public infrastructural investments.
“We got to accelerate the construction of the British-funded Linden to Mabura Road; we got to accelerate the new bridge across the Demerara River. Unfortunately, President (David) Granger continues to delude himself by talking green energy ,but to date no earth-shaking progress has been made on any sort of green energy – be it solar, wind or hydro. All he is doing is a public gaff on the “Public Interest Programme”, but his weak words are backed by insignificant actions.”
The former AFC Executive Member said too that in order for Government to drive economic growth through the Public Sector Investment Programme, it would need to aggressively formulate a programme to build the capabilities of the Private Sector to handle big projects.
Singh concluded that the IMF was indeed correct when it said “delays in public investment weighed down on activity and this is manifest in the construction sector.”