Rawle Lucas

Directly Involved The value-added tax or VAT as it is more frequently called was introduced in Guyana in the year 2007 to replace the Consumption and other taxes which, ironically, were not consciously paid by the consumers. 

Dull Atmosphere Despite nearly one year of tentative and inconsistent governance, the Guyana economy is set to record another year of growth. 

 (Final part) Diaspora Aid There is little doubt that the development of Guyana over the last 20 years has been driven, in part, by the massive resource input of money, goods and skills contributed by the Guyana Diaspora. 

Attractive Despite the pressure from other countries on the human capital of Guyana and other developing countries, there are benefits to having a diaspora. 

Personal The decision to leave one’s country is a personal one, and as is often the case, the reasons are linked to ambition, economics, and safety and security. 

Diaspora Unit Many years after they left the country for a variety of reasons, and settled in other places around the globe, the diaspora that Guyanese became is now a focus of the Guyana Government. 

Small size Quite often Guyanese lament the small size of their economy, but just for one time, they might be glad that their country is small. 

Volatility There is much volatility in the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Guyana. 

By Rawle Lucas Reluctance Guyanese are going through a catharsis brought on by the new distribution of political power and a growing sense that their new found influence will eventually break down the stone wall of corruption that was built under the previous administration. 

Sincerity Recent news reports indicated that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday ended up approving staffing appointments and promotions of persons working in the office of the Auditor-General (AG). 

Watchwords In the 2012 budget presentation, the government talked about changing the way in which Guyanese would be educated, the manner in which business would be done, the way in which government services would be delivered and the way jobs would be created. 

Not widespread The year 2011 was one in which Guyanese went to the banks for additional cash to spend on their household needs. 

Satisfactory first quarter The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company, generally referred to as GT&T, was formed in 1991 after the Government of Guyana (GOG) under the late President Desmond Hoyte sold an 80 per cent share of the state-owned entity Guyana Telecommunications Corporation (GTC) to Atlantic Tele-Network, or ATN. 

Needed Focus With the service sector accounting for two-thirds of the output of the economy, the behavior of major industries in that sector deserve some attention. 

Important Pillars The talk about competitiveness is not idle chatter and no one thinks that the administration sees it that way. 

Targets Two things are obvious from the preceding week’s presentation.  The first is that both financial and non-financial institutions are targets of the FATCA law, and the other is that the new rules affect them in similar ways. 

Critical Indicator The service sector is the largest sector of the Guyana economy in more ways than one. 

Early Appeal As Guyanese were coming to the endof the Lenten Season, they were presented with a new fiscal offering from the newly constituted Donald Ramotaradministration. 

Scrutiny In the last few days, the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) has come under intense press scrutiny for a financial decision that it made about generators used in its operations.

Public Accountability Most times when there is an appeal for public assistance, it is the Police seeking help finding a suspect or some vulnerable community or needy individuals in search of government aid.