Rum drinking and the economy

Oct 31, 2015 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Guyana is a rum-drinking nation. In and out of season, Guyanese are ardent consumers of alcohol.
Even in the hard times, Guyanese found a way to enjoy themselves with a good bottle. When at one stage beer prices more than doubled, this did not stop Guyanese from drinking. They drank less beer but drank they did. The bars and rum shops were always well patronized, especially at weekends.
It is therefore a surprise to pass by the various popular watering holes in Guyana and to see a discernable decline in customers. It is clear that people are not drinking as much and as often as they used to, and it is obvious that this decline has nothing to do with the enforced times for the closing of bars.
On Friday afternoons, for example, there are many shops where workers usually start their weekend with some beers. These shops are not doing the same level of business as they were doing before. No one needs to ask the shop owners for confirmation of this fact. The empty chairs and stools speak volumes about what is taking place.
It was never this bad. Even in days when food was short in Guyana and when you really had to stretch your dollar to survive, Guyanese found a way to be able to find money to have a quarter or a half of the stronger stuff. These days, the various shops are offering promotions, such as three or four beers for a thousand dollars. And still there are limited takers.
It cannot be that people do not have money in their pockets. Those who are still working are simply not drinking as much and as often as they used to. The reason may be that people are scared or uncertain as to what is going to happen in the future for Guyana, and therefore they are saving every dime that they can save because they predict that difficult times may lie ahead.
The decline in the retail sale of alcoholic beverages may be indicative of these concerns. It would be interesting to learn whether the production of local alcoholic beverages has declined and whether the wholesale sales from the manufacturers have declined.
If this is indeed the case, then there is a serious problem because it means that many bars and rum shops will go under.
At one time, a group of us decided that we will go on a drinking blitz across Guyana. We decided that we would over a period of three months try to visit every rum shop and bar on the coast.
It seemed a good idea for us to have a drink in every rum shop or bar, but when we tried to map out how we would go about it was then that we realized just how impossible this task would be. There were far too many rum shops and bars for us to complete this exercise within a year much less within the three months that we gave ourselves.
The decline in alcohol sales will therefore result in catastrophic closures and losses. It will place tens of thousands on the breadline.
Any decline in the production and sale of alcoholic beverages will also have an impact on taxes. Sin taxes are a major contributor to domestic taxes and if they fall, it can affect the amount of revenues that the government collects. This will mean less money to pay increased wages and salaries and to financing a rapidly enlarging and expensive public bureaucracy.
It is costing tens of millions of dollars each day just to run government offices. These offices are in the main not producing any real goods. They are service providers and most government offices use up revenues rather than earn revenues for the government.
The government should investigate this decline in retail sales of alcoholic beverages. They should confirm whether it is a problem at the retail level or whether the decline extends to the sale from the breweries. The findings of that investigation may well signal the gravity of the economic crisis facing the nation.
The government should not make light about what is happening. Christmas sales cannot boost the economy. This is a myth. Christmas sales are about spending from economic gains. It is not the means of creating economic gains.
Rum has never been in short supply at Christmas. Will people splurge this Christmas or will the holding-back period be extended to cover the festive season?

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Rum drinking and the economy

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