Despite the deficits, it cannot stop

LUCAS STOCK INDEX The Lucas Stock Index (LSI) rose 4.01 per cent during the final period of trading in March 2017. The stocks of five companies were traded with 130,951 shares changing hands. There were two Climbers and one Tumbler. The stocks of Republic Bank Limited (RBL) rose 18 per cent on the sale of 6,815 shares and the stocks of Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) rose 6.38 per cent on the sale of 48,467 shares. At the same time, the stocks of Demerara Bank Limited (DBL) fell 1.43 per cent on the sale of 60,000 shares. In the meanwhile, the stocks of Banks DIH (DIH) and Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (BTI) remained unchanged on the sale of 15,257 and 412 shares respectively.

Continuously in debt

Guyana perennially runs a trade deficit which in the simplest of circumstances means that it is continuously in debt to other countries.  As this writer has pointed out in previous articles on the subject, it also means that Guyana is not saving enough money.  Yet, the country continues to trade each year knowing that at the end of the day it will be indebted to some other country and limited in its capacity to invest.  It is not unusual for countries to run trade deficits.  Some countries have big economies like the USA and Spain and expansive production structures and even strong currencies and still have trade deficits.  One must ask the question, why would Guyana, with its small economy and relatively weak currency, do something like that?  It looks as if the country has