Christopher Ram

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Mid-Year 2012 Report shows mixed performance

Conclusion In the introduction to last week’s Business Page I pointed out that it was refreshing that the mid-year report was not only prepared within the statutory deadline but that the report was actually made public even before it was laid in the National Assembly which is presided over by the Speaker.

Clico liquidator lodges first Liquidation Statement

Conclusion Introduction Today completes a series on the liquidation process of the insurance giant that collapsed spectacularly in early 2009 after news came out of Trinidad and Tobago that the company’s parent had been taken over by that country’s central bank following a dramatic run on the company mainly by policyholders.

Clico Liquidator lodges first liquidation statement

Introduction This column is about Clico Life and General Insurance Company (South American) Limited (Clico), a regional insurance giant whose Guyana subsidiary collapsed spectacularly when Mr Ian Chang, Chief Justice appointed Mr Lawrence Williams, Governor of the Bank of Guyana to liquidate the company.

Administrative map of Guyana

The economic resources of Region 10

I apologise for the non-appearance of the column last week owing to travel commitments    Introduction It is now more than three weeks since what was intended as a five-day protest against the electricity hikes in the region took a dramatic turn for the worse on the very first day with the deaths of three protesters.

The economics of Linden and electricity rates

Introduction In the 2012 Budget Speech, Dr Ashni Singh, Minister of Finance said: “Currently, in Linden, electricity costs between $5 and $15 per kWh, while on the GPL [Guyana Power and Light] grid customers pay an average of $64 perkWh.

No such thing as a free chow mein

Introduction No free chow mein. That was my first thought as I tried to interpret the words of Minister of Public Works and Communications Robeson Benn in relation to the airport expansion project that “we [meaning the government] had to enter into an agreement because we had a very narrow window in September where a Chinese Vice Premier came to the Caribbean with several billion dollars to fund projects and it was the only opportunity we had then to fund this undertaking.”

It is 0.01%, not 1%

Introduction I will start with a simple but stark statistic. My list shows that nought-point-nought one per cent (0.01%) of the Guyana population owns between 70 and 80 per cent of the private wealth of the country.

Hand-in-Hand Trust and the Brassingtons

Conclusion Introduction Today’s column completes a three-part article looking into the operations of this non-bank, deposit-taking financial institution as well as its murky relationship with the brother of a related party.

Hand-in-Hand Trust and the Brassingtons Part 2

Introduction Notwithstanding the caption of this article, the first part in last week’s Business Page dealt not with the Hand-in-Hand Trust Corporation Inc (HIHT/the company) but with Winston Brassington and his brother who Winston boasted had saved HIHT from the fate of Clico.

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