Dear Editor,
I was highly bemused when I read in the media an article wherein the former Minister of Finance Minister ‘has expressed grave concerns over Guyana’s borrowing spree, and he questioned the legality of a letter sent to the Chinese Ambassador regarding a loan request of US$1.5B’.
According to him, the latter is ‘rumour’, but I would say that the former is just one of his outlandish assumptions. Not so long ago, the Coalition, under his watch as Finance Minister, went on a real borrowing and squandering binge, which depleted all the reserves and ran an excessive overdraft on the Consolidated Fund in excess of $90 billion.
In addition, I have written exhaustively on the $30 billion Bond which was not used for the purpose intended, but was lavishly misspent (euphemism). Interest on this Bond would have amounted to US$40 million (Gy$8.4 billion) in just 5 years to service it.
According to an article in 2019, $7.4 billion was disbursed to GuySuCo since 2018, but there are no records to show how the money was utilised. This Government has, in January this year, paid a total of $606 million in just interest. This is wasteful spending!
On top of all of this, the previous Government ‘negotiated’ an Oil Production Sharing Contract and a Royalty rate which they now want this Government to correct. This is so barefaced. This Government was placed with such a huge burden to right the wrongs done by the Coalition that borrowing at this point is a necessity. The devastating flood and the deadly pandemic must also be brought into this scenario.
What I would like to see Mr Jordan do is provide evidence that sums of money borrowed were squandered in the manner in which they did during their tenure in office. I refer the former Finance Minister to the countless ‘anomalies and irregularities and breaches (euphemism again) of the Procurement Act and Fiscal Management Act which occurred in a most brazen manner under his watch. The evidence is so glaring for all to see.
The Coalition even used the pandemic to squander whilst Guyanese were dying for lack of a proper COVID-19 facility. Just think about the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Liliendaal and the hundreds of millions mismanaged and wasted.
The list of squandering under the Coalition is endless. It is not the borrowing ‘binge’ which hurts, but the squandering binge which was the Coalition’s trade mark.
Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf
