Dear Editor,
In Guyana the Consolidated Fund represents the total of all public moneys that are on deposit and are available for use by the State up to the limit stipulated by way of the Budget Process and including the requirements of the Contingency Fund. If the Consolidated Fund is in overdraft, it means that the State is spending money it does not have which translates to the facts that we have printed and used moneys that are not necessarily backed by real assets, so called “monopoly money”.
According to the Auditor General’s Report as at December 2017 there was an overdraft of some G$90 billion in the Consolidated Fund, meaning we have G$90 billion in paper money in circulation that may not have real assets to back it. Unbelievable, I am advised that the figure is now negative G$104 billion.
This is a problem that continues to go unacknowledged that will have long-term adverse results for the nation. Not even the oil money in the first four years of operations will be able to repair this fiscally reckless and dangerous situation. That means we should not expect betterment economically before 2023.
There is enough empirical evidence to prove that growing governments are not conducive to better economic performance and we have factual evidence in Guyana to substantiate such a prognosis. The size of the spending under Team Granger has expanded but the economic growth rate has actually moved in the opposite direction. This clearly translates into a situation where the government is spending more for the benefit of a smaller group at the top creating at the expense of those at the bottom of the economic chain. Such a situation has created an even wider disparity between the “haves” and the “have-nots” if one is to compare the situation between 2015 and 2018. My discussion during October 2018 with some key stakeholders confirmed this fact. Such a situation will lead to a decrease in the nation’s competitiveness. How to fix this?
Let us start with fixing GPL, Guysuco, UG and the empowerment of the Private Sector. There is urgent work to be done and key doors have to be broken down.
Does HE President David Arthur Granger understand this elementary fact?
Yours faithfully,
Sasenarine Singh, M.Sc. – Finance, ACCA
Maryland, USA
