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Stats Bureau has been performing “under pressure, adverse conditions”

Aug 16, 2015 News

The country’s chief data agency, the Bureau of Statistics, has been performing under pressure and poor conditions. This was communicated to members of the National Assembly on Monday during the presentation of the 2015 budget speech by Finance Minister, Winston Jordan.
He expressed that it goes without saying that the timely availability of quality statistics is indispensable to proper planning, policy development, budgeting and a wide range of related activities.
On this premise, the Finance Minister revealed that the Bureau will be modernized and provided with the tools to effectively perform, and be of service, to a wide range of stakeholders.
In this respect, Jordan said that nearly $150 million has been provided in the 2015 budget to rehabilitate the old Customs House, which has been identified as the permanent headquarters of the Bureau. This will be its first, official headquarters since its incorporation in 1957.
He said that this would allow the Bureau to finally consolidate its operations into a single unit, having had to contend with managing from three different locations.
The Finance Minister said that work continues apace to complete the editing and checking of all primary data for the Census, which is slated for full release during the second quarter of 2016.
He stated that the Bureau will build capacity to engage in several activities.
Jordan noted that during 2015, it will continue preparation for the new series of post-census national surveys, which will commence in December when an updated population frame becomes available.
He said that the first will be a Living Standards Measurement Survey to facilitate a new round of poverty analysis. He said that this is critical, as it would provide Government with up-to-date information that would aid in targeting assistance and programmes to the most vulnerable sections of the populace.
The Minister of Finance noted that survey execution is a very costly exercise when undertaken throughout all 10 regions of Guyana.
Jordan said that it is therefore, the vision of the Bureau’s management to transition, over the next three years, to annual multi-topic surveys, based on smaller samples of the population, so as to avoid the prohibitive cost of nationwide single-topic surveys.
Another area of interest, he said, concerns the use of the Georgetown Index as a proxy index of measurement of inflation for the entire country.
Jordan said that while acknowledging that Guyana’s sheer size and land space preclude data gathering and compilation of a nationwide index, on a monthly basis, the Bureau has, nevertheless, committed to put in place the necessary logistics and infrastructure to commence producing an all-urban index. He said that this will incorporate the sub-indices for New Amsterdam, Corriverton, Anna Regina, and Linden.  In the meantime, the Finance Minister said that a monthly dissemination of the Georgetown Index will commence from January, 2016.

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