Improving the international community’s perception of Guyana

Dear Editor,
The recent cocaine seizures, the requests for debt forgiveness in the recent past, the excessive spending in the national budget and the elections turmoil of 2020 are all key factors in diminishing International confidence in Our Beautiful Guyana. Recently, the Ministry of Finance spoke of a reduction in interest from the International Community in support of investment in Guyana. Hence, we must make significant strides in the near future to rectify this deteriorating situation. The resulting country risk associated with Guyana compared to other options will also deter further foreign direct investment (FDI) for fear of money laundering, increased potential of government instability, increased exposure to bad debt and the risk of future international sanctions if a peaceful solution to the 2020 elections is not achieved and maintained. For this reason, the Security Sector Reform Action Plan (SSRAP) must be embraced and progress made in its implemention post haste.

When it comes to the financial management of our country, we must avoid the past posture of taking on excessive debt and then asking for debt forgiveness. What happened with the debt owed to Kuwait should have been avoided due to our discovery of oil. Neither is the PPP’s Cup one for begging nor is the PNC’s Palm Tree one under which beggars take rest. Increasing investment and improving infrastructure is always a good leading indicator to attract FDI. However, this will not compensate for the lack of stability and investment security if money laundering is a factor within the economy. Staying within a budget based on traceable revenues and keeping borrowing to a minimum will help improve the financial health of our nation and its fiscal transparency.

Recent comments on the lack of activity in the Parliamentary Committees such as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) should be heeded to help move this process along while augmenting the level of economic transparency and political cooperation. The implementation of this succinct and achievable strategy in the near term will help improve Our Nation’s standing within the International Community while also reducing the risk of negative foreign interference.

Best regards,
Mr. Jamil Changlee
Chairman
The Cooperative Republicans of Guyana