Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth this year has been 2.6% compared to the originally projected 4.4% following a downswing in key sectors, Finance Minister Winston Jordan said while delivering the $250 billion 2017 budget yesterday in the National Assembly.
The GDP growth projection next year is 3.8% on the back of mining and quarrying and an expected recovery in other sectors.
Delivering his third budget presentation, Jordan said that at the middle of this year, real economic growth was 2 per cent but since several industries and sectors including sugar, rice, construction, and the wholesale and retail trade, were “showing signs of distress”, the rate of growth was revised downwards to 4 per cent. Thereafter, several unexpected developments arose including the downsizing of Barama Company Limited and Demerara Timbers Limited’s operations in the forestry sector. Jordan also
