According to the Mid-Year Report on the economy, released by the Ministry of Finance, Guyana’s economy has declined some 2.5 percent in the first half of 2015 as compared with the same period in 2014, GINA said today.
The 2015 decline, the report noted, was mainly caused by the delay in the presentation and passage of the National Budget, due to the Parliament being prorogued in November 2014, its dissolution in 2015, and elections being held in May 2015.
“This delay meant that many government agencies were unable to carry out their planned programmes for the year. Many projects were held in abeyance, while only a few projects which were ‘rolled over’ from the previous year attracted funding. At the same time, the atmosphere of uncertainty and tensions surrounding the holding of general elections, led to investors postponing decision in many cases,” the Report stated, according to GINA.
Growth is expected to surge in the second half of the year and is projected to reach 3.4 percent, as a result of the measures outlined in Budget 2015, GINA added.
The Mid-Year Report on the economy is due to be tabled in Parliament on Thursday.
