Managing the country’s finances
“The Contingencies Fund continued to be abused with amounts totaling $550.025 M drawn from the Fund and utilized to meet expenditure that did not meet the eligibility criteria as defined in the Act.” Even allowing for the imprecise language, these words appearing in paragraph 3 of the Executive Summary of the Report of the Auditor [...]
Corporate lawlessness
Introduction Over the past couple of weeks I have had cause to try obtaining some information on particular companies, information that those companies are required to file with the Registrar of Companies. Alas, in a number of cases, companies simply ignore the law, failing for several years to file what the Companies Act refers to [...]
If Mitt Romney was in Guyana, his 13.9% tax rate would have been lower
Introduction If Governor Mitt Romney, a leading candidate for the Republican nomination in the US 2012 presidential elections thought that he would neutralise the attacks by his fellow candidates by publicising his 2010 tax returns, he was wrong. In fact, the revelation that his effective tax rate – the percentage which the tax he pays [...]
Guyana’s election machinery is not good value for money
Last week was not a mixed week for the nation. On one day, the front page of the Stabroek News read: ‘PPP/C addressing voter loss’and ‘Granger says [APNU] not afraid of new elections,‘ both reports arising out of press conferences by their respective parties. These followed comments made by AFC presidential candidate Mr Khemraj Ramjattan [...]
On the Line – The Banks Group
Comment Co-incidences are rarely easy to explain. At the time of launching an award for the best Annual Report by any Guyanese company as one of the activities and initiatives for its 25th anniversary observed last year, this column carried a review of the financial statements of the two operating companies of the Banks DIH [...]
It won’t be easy
Introduction Nothing concentrates the mind like a deadline. With the date for the convening of the 10th Parliament fast approaching – it must be held within four months of the end of the previous session which ended in the last week of September, 2011 – it is expected that our politicians will soon resolve the [...]
Predicting the future
Introduction This column has not had a good record when it comes to predicting the future, even into the next year. It has defied probability and its predictions were so overwhelmingly more wrong than right that Dr Beckles would diagnose the attempt at clairvoyance as being purely delusional. Sometimes it does not even get the [...]
Looking back at Business Page
Part 2 Introduction Today as we celebrate Christmas, a day marked as much for its commercial opportunities as for its religious significance, Business Page concludes a look-back at some of the articles carried in these columns during 2011. Out of a pool of fifty, the selection was made based on what I consider to have [...]
Looking back at Business Page
Introduction This, my closing column for what was a truly eventful, indeed historic year is not about introversion or narcissism but one that was forced by reality. I had really intended to review the annual report of the Demerara Bank Limited which will be holding its annual general meeting tomorrow. I could not anticipate that [...]
Ashni Singh criticizes Transparency International methodology
Introduction December 9 was an important day for Guyana. For the first time since 2003 when the United Nations designated the day as International Anti-Corruption Day to raise awareness about corruption as an international and domestic agenda issue, the day was marked with a public activity – a seminar – in which the Government of [...]
NIS buys Clico building for $600 million
Introduction At a time when the National Insurance Scheme is experiencing the results of more than two decades of bad governance it has just dished out some $600 million to buy the CLICO building on Camp Street. That building was the single most valuable asset of the failed giant insurance company which was placed first [...]
Country heading for massive budget deficit
Introduction As campaign 2011 moves into top gear, no one it seems has the least interest in the financial and economic consequences of the explosion in what appears to be uncontrolled expenditure by the government. The simple rule of financial management is that new expenditure must either come from increasing revenues, or from utilizing accumulated [...]
Over-budgeting or underpayment of public sector wage and pension increases
Introduction In his presentation to the National Assembly of the 2011 Budget on January 17, Dr Ashni Singh announced that public assistance was then being paid at a rate of $4,900 per month to approximately 9,000 beneficiaries. He went on to announce a 12% increase to $5,500 per month from February 1. And in the [...]
Local government financing and democracy
Introduction The reader should not wonder why in the caption of this column ‘democracy’ does not precede ‘financing.’ Obviously it should but the reader will also appreciate the procrustean attempt to fit what is at first blush a political and local governance issue into a business column. Still, it is clear that our Constitution in [...]
Half-yearly reports show increased turnover
Caribbean Containers Inc, a public company in the paper recycling business has reported turnover for the first half of 2011 increasing by 9.3% over the same period last year. This follows a 10.3% reported turnover increase by the DDL Group of Companies and a 13.8% increase in the Banks DIH Group, the only one of [...]