Rawle Lucas

True and accurate The condition of the manufacturing sector offers a glimpse of what is wrong with the economic conduct and policy of the current administration. 

Refrain Except for the drums being beaten by the administration itself, the budget announced for the 2011 fiscal year is not producing any bacchanal. 

Illusion Notwithstanding the energy and miscellany of programmes it trots out each year, the administration, like other governments, simplifies its achievements by showing how gross domestic product (GDP) has changed from one year to the next. 

Resource-Poor Households Just over one week ago, the administration launched a G$220M credit program for the benefit of small farmers in Guyana. 

As Guyanese lethargically recovered from the exhausting Christmas and New Year celebrations, so did the trading wheels of the Guyana Stock Exchange (GSE).  

Public Procurement Last week, reference was made to the non-creation of the small business bureau as an example of an institutional problem that causes lower returns on the investments of Guyana. 

Things like assets, capital, and inventories might be exciting to talk about in the classroom in pursuit of an A grade or in the boardroom of a company to ensure that company profits are heading in the right direction. 

Business Model What do the Bank of Baroda, the Bank of Nova Scotia and Republic Bank have in common, besides being foreign-owned? 

Experience As a country with a strong agricultural focus and capacity, Guyana should be making every effort to develop its agro-processing industry. 

Benefit The rank of 104 would have looked much different if the architects of the 2010 Human Development Index (HDI) had kept the population of countries from its previous reports.

Official Trade Gold prices have been setting nominal records in 2010 as prices moved from US$1,148 in April to over US$1,400 in November. 

Membership The Guyana Stock Exchange opened for business in July 2003 and by November 8, 2010, it had completed 381 trading sessions. 

Feeling It What does the structure of the Guyana economy tell us about the ability of Guyanese to serve customers and keep a smile? 

Time Horizon An observation was made about the use of the word “yield” in the narrative of the Lucas Stock Index (LSI) and of the importance of not confusing the concept of the yield with the concept of rate of return on investment. 

Normalcy Two decades after the passage of the Dealers in Foreign Currency (Licensing) Act, it is reasonable to inquire of the state of foreign currency trading in Guyana, given the dysfunctional condition of the market before the Act was passed. 

Size and Visibility Now that the work of the small business financing organizations is captured in a single report of the Bank of Guyana, it is possible to gain a better understanding of the impact of their work on the life of their customers and the contribution they make to the Guyana economy as a whole. 

Tough Choices After five years of double-digit increases in borrowing, Guyanese households may have lost their appetite for borrowing to spend on themselves and their homes. 

By Rawle Lucas Lofty Position If developing countries are likened to children, China has now reached the age of adulthood. 

Foreign Assets The investment behaviour of the commercial banks in Guyana seemed to be taking a favourable turn. 

Rawle Lucas is a Guyanese-born Certified Public Accountant and Assistant Vice-President of the Lending Services Division.