Rawle Lucas

 Delayed release The preliminary 2012 census report is out but it does not provide data on employment and the labour force in general.

Inconsistent   The disclosure that another hotel with an international brand will be built in Guyana has raised once again questions as to what the government’s real interest is in encouraging such types of foreign investment in Guyana.

Public good The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana (UG) has proposed a hike in the tuition fees to be paid by students of the university.

Declining fortunes This is no time for naysayers to gloat about the declining fortunes of the gold industry and the conundrum of the rice industry.

Rogue drivers The minibus culture of reckless and indisciplined driving is expected to get worse as time goes by unless the police adopt a more aggressive attitude towards the rogue drivers in the industry.

Risk factors Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN), the parent company of GT&T, has told the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it continues to worry about several risk factors that could affect its operations in Guyana.

Unique way In what could be a unique way to focus attention on the issue of poverty and how it could be tackled, the World Bank in its World Development Report 2014 points to the need for risk management by all economic units in an economy.

Youngest Demerara Bank Limited (DBL) is one of the youngest commercial banks in Guyana.

Leadership   The Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) is the second largest bank in Guyana with about 25 percent of the deposits, a market capitalization of $25 billion and assets to the tune of $95 billion or 28 percent of the assets under the control of the commercial banks.

Smallest In a market of diverse ownership, Citizens Bank is one of three commercial banks that have majority Guyanese ownership.

Largest Companies Republic Bank (Guyana) is by far one of the largest companies in Guyana by any measure.

Forty-seven years ago this month Martin Luther King Jr. uttered the words: “We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today.

Grief and anguish The budget debate might be over but not the grief and anguish of the Guyanese people. 

Barely moved Despite a major decline in the amount by which gross national disposable income (GNDI) increased last year as revealed in the 2014 budget statistics, the government expects the economy to grow by 5.6 per cent this year. 

Centerpiece The anticipations of the 2014 budget are over.  The Minister of Finance delivered the intention of the government to create a better Guyana for all Guyanese that carries a financial tag of $220 billion. 

Anniversary This year will mark the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Dealers in Foreign Currency (Licensing) Act, and there is clear evidence that the market has undergone significant change over the intervening period.  

Plight of vulnerable This would be the final article on anticipations of the 2014 budget. 

Law and order Irrespective of the political system, there is general agreement that the safety and security of people are the responsibility of governments. 

Major thrust A major thrust of this administration has been to invest in the physical infrastructure of the country. 

Further cuts   Budgeting for education ought to be a simple task for the administration.