Latest update April 26th, 2026 12:45 AM
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AN AUDIT OF THE GROWTH RATES SHOULD BE DONE
Guyana has enjoyed ten consecutive years of economic growth. Nine and a half of those years were under the People’s Progressive Party.
APNU had called into question the growth and inflation numbers of the PPP. When it assumed office, APNU also expressed some concerns about these rates.
One would have expected that the first order of business by the Ministry of Finance would have been to undertake an audit of the growth and inflation rates achieved under the PPP and specifically to question the formula that was being used.
One would have expected that the Ministry of Finance would have announced a new and more realistic growth rates and formula for calculating these rates. This has not happened.
After announcing that there was only marginal growth over the first half the year, the public was told that the economy not only grew in the second half but that overall growth was 3%. This will surprise many people given that there were complaints of a dramatic slowdown in business sales in the second half of the year, inclusive of Christmas.
This slowdown was symptomatic of problems in the economy and it was therefore something as a surprise to learn that the economy grew by 3%.
The growth in the production of gold in the second half, particularly by large scale miners, was responsible for the absence of negative growth this year. Sugar continues to recover but the output was not sufficient to increase economic growth.
It was gold that allowed Guyana to register a positive growth rate for 2015 but there will be skeptics about the 3% announced.
There have already been questions raised about the alleged deflation in the economy. The reasons given do not add up. Fuel prices at the pumped have remained high and questions have been raised about the claim about a decline in food prices.
The government needs to undertake an audit of the growth and inflation numbers. The opposition should press them on this. The IMF and World Bank should be asked to send a team of experts to determine whether Guyana did enjoy a 3% growth rate in 2015 and whether inflation was negative.
The consequences of deflation for workers’ salaries are serious. The government is not going to offer significant wage increases to workers in the public service so long as it can point to deflation in the economy. The unions in the country should equally join in a call for a non-partisan audit of the growth and inflation numbers for the economy
Guyana has to remove the controversies and doubts that have been swirling over these numbers for years now. Even APNU had questioned both the growth and inflation numbers.
It now can put things right. It can show transparency in government by committing to an audit of the growth and inflation numbers. The experts from the World Bank and IMF will willingly come and do this for free.
All it will take is a mere two days of work for them to assess the data that was used to compile these indices.
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