In the second week of trading in September 2012, the Lucas Stock Index (LSI) posted a nearly five percent increase in value. The stocks of four companies were active this week with Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) recording a 20-percent increase in value and Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (BTI) advancing by 21.25 percent. The other two companies, Banks DIH (DIH) and Demerara Bank Limited (DBL), recorded no gain in the value of their stocks. Trades this week saw a major shift in ranking with BTI surpassing DIH to occupy the number two spot in market capitalization and to assert itself as a market leader. This week’s change in value by 4.95 percent is also a major development since the LSI has been averaging growth of only 0.33 percent over the last four weeks. As a result, the LSI now exceeds the yield of the 364-day Treasury Bills by more than 27 percentage points.
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. A diaspora in its simplest interpretation refers to people who originate from one country and live in another country or another part of the world. The Guyana Diaspora therefore is about Guyanese and their descendants living abroad. Like other countries, Guyana has moved now to embrace its diaspora formally with the announcement of the setting up of a Diaspora Unit in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is not clear what the immediate focus of the Diaspora Unit will be, but one hopeful consequence of this decision is that the current administration would move beyond the select pockets of overseas Guyanese that it has favoured over the years. Thus,
