Christopher Ram

Business Page Conclusion Introduction Today we conclude our review of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) announced by President Jagdeo to the international community and now the subject of consultations taking place across Guyana. 

Business Page is dedicated to providing objective information and opinion on issues of interest to the business community and the public at large.

Business Page   Introduction We continue today with part two of the LCDS which President Jagdeo launched on June 8 and which is out for consultation up to the end of September, the timeline driven mainly by the need that it should be ready for the Copenhagen Conference in December of this year.

A review of the Low Carbon Development Strategy Introduction To all Guyanese, from Cabinet to Canal # 1, the announcement that the people of Guyana are willing to act in placing our rainforests under “globally-verified forest and other land use governance standards and transparent, accountable deployment of forest payments” must have come as a great surprise, if not a shock.

Report of the Auditor General 2007: Different year, same messNo change The report of the Auditor General on the Public Accounts of the country for 2007 has been tabled in the National Assembly and is now officially available to the taxpaying public and commendably on the Audit Office’s website.

Business Page Introduction Guyanese accountants are this weekend hosting their counterparts from the region in the annual conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean (ICAC).

On the line: Demerara Tobacco Company Limited Annual Report 2008 Introduction The Annual General Meeting of the Demerara Tobacco Company Limited, the tobacco trading company was held on March 31, 2009 making it the first company with a calendar yearend to have presented its 2008 annual report to its shareholders.

The IMF Consultation on the Guyana economy in 2008 Introduction Using its stock-in-trade jargon the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund in a Public Information Notice issued on May 19, 2009 gave a very favourable report on the performance of the Guyana economy for 2008.

On the Line:National Insurance Scheme Annual Report 2007 Introduction The column on March 29, 2009 featured the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) along with the New Building Society in a supporting role to Clico Guyana in which the NIS stands to lose several billions of dollars worth of investments.

On the Line: New Building Society Limited Annual Report 2008 $200M exchange lossNotice to Readers Two weeks ago I wrote that I was taking two months off, and Business Page would not be appearing during that period.

Business Page Introduction Clico is by far the worst financial disaster ever to have hit Guyana.

Stimulus package – to do or not to do? I had promised to write this week about the role in and implications of the Clico fiasco on the NBS and the NIS. 

Clico and the related crisis: Confusion continues Introduction It has been an incredibly hot week in Guyana.

If a loss of public moneys should occur and, at the time of that loss, a Minister or official has caused or contributed to that loss through misconduct or through deliberate or serious disregard of reasonable standards of care, that Minister or official shall be personally liable to the Government for the amount of the loss.

Putting some sense in the 2009 BudgetIntroduction The National Assembly has the most unenviable task of making sense of the 2009 Budget presented last Monday in the National Assembly.

Addressing the Clico issue Introduction Rumours that the region’s largest conglomerate CL Financial Limited (CL) was experiencing difficulties were confirmed at a dramatic press conference in Trinidad two Fridays ago, hosted by the Governor of the Central Bank and including CL’s chairman Lawrence Duprey and Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira.

Integrity Commission on shaky groundConclusionRe-cap Last week we ended the column with the offices listed in Schedule I to the act, the holders of which must automatically file with the Integrity Commission, declarations of their income, assets and liabilities of themselves, their spouses and minor unmarried children by June 30 of the following year.

Staggering increase in external debt Bad news The country’s stock of external public and publicly guaranteed debt rose by 20.3 per cent to US$804 million from the end of September 2007 to the end of September 2008.

On the line: Banks DIH Annual Report Banks DIH, the giant food and beverage company will be holding its 53rd annual general meeting on Saturday, January 17, 2009, close to four months following the end of its financial year of September 30, 2008.

Our world in 2009 Introduction Certainly the most authoritative publication which predicts the grand occasions and developments of the following year is the widely circulated Economist, published in the UK.