Dear Editor,
The debate on the ‘Good Life’ budget is now over, and much has been said. However in my opinion much has been left unsaid; we have been presented with a $221 billion budget amidst a world economic downturn. All of our foreign exchange earners are at world market price lows, and while this is no fault of our government and they cannot be blamed for this, they must be chastised for putting politics before country in presenting a spendthrift budget when an austerity one would have been prudent.
The government is acting like new parents who are afraid of telling their children the harsh truth, that we are earning considerably less foreign exchange than during the gold boom of 2011-12 where prices were as high as US$1900 per ounce compared to US$1150 today. Sugar is losing money (for now), rice markets have to be sourced urgently, bauxite production costs in Guyana are no longer competitive, and companies operating here are doing so in survival mode. These are the truths we need to understand as a nation; the ‘Good Life’ cannot be for a short time. Unfortunately it seems that politics comes before honesty and the consequences are easy to predict.
Our dollar may lose significant value in the near future. This of course would make our products more competitive on the world markets, and the cost of sugar production for example could be reduced. Significant rises in salaries would easily be accommodated by our foreign exchange earnings when converted at higher rates locally and market forces will find our level, but with this good news for production would come the bad news for our local standard of living. Imported products would no longer be affordable, and the price of cars, buses, motorbikes, etc, would rise. Overseas travel would become more expensive as well, and our dollar would not get us as far as it used to in the past. Much of what is likely to come is unavoidable and will be driven by market forces beyond our control; much however can be done to alleviate the pains that come with the process, but it has to start with honesty from the very top. Let us not hang our hat where our hands cannot reach.
Yours faithfully,
Robin Singh
