Financial information on the country’s public finances are publicly available

Dear Editor,

Reference is made to Mr. Nigel Hinds’ letter published in the Stabroek News dated October 8, 2022, with the caption “Budget questions for the Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance”. Editor, all of the information Mr. Hinds is requesting of the Minister to provide him, are publicly available. I am immensely taken aback that Mr. Hinds, who is a chartered accountant and a former Prime Ministerial candidate of a political party that contested the 2020 elections, is unaware that all of the information he is seeking are publicly available. Editor, I am unreservedly unapologetic about the above statement as I have noted the posture taken by Hinds with the allegations against the Government on discriminatory policies, that the economic policies pursued are discriminatory.

Yet, Mr. Hinds fail to credibly justify his argument with sound evidence and policy analysis. Given the fact that Mr. Hinds has proven to the world, inter alia, his public letter to the Minister seeking answers on information that he can independently obtain and verify, confirmed that he has absolutely no clue where to find the data and all of the financial information on the country’s public finances, which are all publicly available on the websites of the Ministry of Finance, Bank of Guyana, and in the media. Editor, I hope this is helpful to Mr. Hinds.

Sincerely,

Joel Bhagwandin