VAT and other policies have been imposed by the IMF

Dear Editor,

I am surprised the opposition leader and the trade unionists haven’t been able to identify the hand behind most of Guyana’s economic problems and which contributes to the deteriorating social and crime problems in the country.

That hand is the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The political and trade union leaders should read “Globalization and its discontents” by Joseph Stiglitz, a former Chief Economist and Vice-President of the World Bank. He also served on the Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton at the White House. He gives a good insight on how Globalization has made third world countries poorer.

The recent introduction of VAT, debt relief, the selling off of state assets, linking wages and pensions to inflation, the large food import bill are all policies imposed by the IMF on the Government. There is an IMF official overseeing the implementation of these policies. The government has to take the blame, they don’t.

Yours faithfully,

F.A. Neblett