While the search continues for the large-scale operations needed to create thousands of jobs over the next five years, government is heartened by the many ventures underway in the various sectors around the country.
Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh says it was recognised that the traditional pillars alone cannot support an economy that will need to create thousands of jobs over the next five years and rapidly increase per capita income “as we keep the Millennium Development Goals in our sight and make a determined onslaught on poverty”
Delivering the annual budget speech in the National Assembly yesterday, Singh stressed the need for setting a firm foundation for more economic pillars, some of which need to grow and some still to be established. But even so, the new pillars alone would not be sufficient to reduce the country’s vulnerability to external shocks.
He said the search has been boosted by high gold prices which are expected to remain strong in the medium term and a number of large-scale ventures are already in various stages of exploration in different parts of the country.
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