last week, two senior Government Ministers and two executives of the Guyana Private Sector Commission (PSC) were quoted extensively in the media as they offered their positions on the recent economic downturn and decline affecting the local economy and retarding growth of new, emerging and existing sectors.
They all agreed in principle that the economy was not performing as it should, business was slow or sluggish, the lives of Guyanese had not improved significantly over the past two years and there was marked decline in business trade coupled with a decrease in both domestic and foreign direct investment.
But what was astonishing were the reasons proffered by the two Ministers as to why the new Government had not managed to improve the economic fortunes of the country even though it had been in office for over a year.
Also lacking in their explanations was the presentation of a clearly defined marco- or even microeconomic blueprint that explains just how their Government plans on restoring the health of the economy, inspiring investors’ confidence, and denting the levels of economic haplessness, unemployment, rising crime and violence and decreasing standard of living of the populace.
Firstly, Business Minister Dominic Gaskin argued at a PSC function that the former People’s Progressive Party/Civic Government was still responsible for the state of the economic even though they demitted office since May 2015.
He told business executives at the Marriott Hotel that the decline did not start when the new Government took over even though he appeared to be accepting the popular argumentation that the new office bearers need to stop playing the blame game and get on with the economy.
Gaskin was reported as promising another wave of platitudes and providing the business community with what appeared to be textbook solutions to their real world problems while also offering them an antiquated outlook on business and finance that is rooted in political undertones and promises.
But even his presentation appeared credible when compared to the argumentation put forward by his learned colleague Finance Minister Winston Jordan who no doubt insulted young and old academics with his reasoning as why the economy is not picking up and performing so poorly in comparison to its regional counterparts.
To my surprise, the Minister said the significant decrease in what he referred to as “free spending” was occasioned as a result of “a decrease in illegal activities, including narco trafficking, which had created a parallel economy here”.
He does not stop there but goes on to argue that as they continue to fight this parallel economy, things might get worse and the economy will have to adjust as he assured that Government was putting things in place to cushion the effect of its successes in denting the underground economy.
Surely, Minister Jordan does not expect Guyanese to believe that during the APNU/AFC Government’s 1st year in office they have managed to dent the underground economy or the parallel economy which he had argued like economist Clive Thomas was not entrenched to the legitimate economy.
And he certainly does not expect us to accept his promise that things are being put in place to boost the economy by definitively saying that things he is speaking about. Also he does not expect us to accept the platitudes of the Business Minister and their collective idealistic outlook that we must trust them to deliver a better economy and a good life in the long-term even as they have proven themselves wholly incompetent to do so in the short-term.
The truth is, the new Government has done nothing to dent the underground economy, save jobs, inspire growth in the Private Sector or innovation in the Public Sector over the last year. As a matter of fact, since former President Ramotar took office they did everything to cripple the economy from jeopardising his Government’s legislative and developmental agenda to legitimising excesses against the Executive which many times ended in violence and bloodshed.
Also, the Government’s own posture is telling businesspeople and investors that they are not open for business but rather are opened to do business with certain people for certain gains.
That aside, the witch-hunts, audits, politically motivated and Ministry of the Presidency-directed smear campaigns have only increased since the last elections and businesspeople continue to adapt a wait and see approach. The series of regressive and repressive tax changes recently implemented by Government along with its state-sponsored attacks on people’s private property and businesses continue reaching unimaginable heights.
Unless Government is serious about helping GuySuCo, reversing the closure of Wales and LBI estates, finding markets for rice farmers, revising the 2:00am curfew permanently, removing the spate of bans and repressive taxes, increasing the public servants’ salaries in a meaningful way and dealing with crime by DOING more… most Guyanese will assume that they are busy with the jubilee anniversary and everything else can wait including the health and socioeconomic wellbeing of their citizenry who are crying out for justice as they have endured twelve months of hardship and economic neglect.
