The sheer size and pervasive presence of the underground economy in Guyana and some other Caricom countries symbolize the serious vulnerabilities which plague the financial regulatory and oversight structure of the region. It goes without saying that when such a considerable share of national income goes unreported and is not captured in the official GDP then a substantial fraction of the country’s financial activities would remain unregulated and subject thereby to no official oversight.

This is bound to result in serious vulnerabilities in the financial infrastructure. In this week’s column I shall begin to address these vulnerabilities as I bring to a close, for the time being, the impact of the global financial crisis and economic recession on Guyana and the wider Caricom.

One of the most important vulnerabilities, which has been revealed is the alarming number of Ponzi-type schemes that came to the fore in the wake of the global crisis. The most infamous and disastrous of these schemes are the…..