AND THE BAND KEEPS PLAYING

Nov 11, 2017 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

When I passed it at first, I thought it was a life-sized portrait of a rock star. But when I circled the block, I discovered that it was a billboard image of the Minister of Finance, advertising the upcoming 2018 National Budget.
I just cannot explain why any government would erect such a huge billboard to advertise a forthcoming Budget. The measures in the Budget are supposed to create its own interest. You do not need a billboard with the image of the Minister of Finance to hype interest in the Budget. It is a sign of political desperation.
The billboard is interesting. It depicts the smiling image of the Minister of Finance. There is an image of a road which curls around a depiction of the Bank of Guyana. An airplane is flying overhead.
The billboard speaks about the road to the good life, and there are landmarks engraved on the road surface showing the journey to the good life, beginning with the 2015 Budget, then moving on to the 2016 and 2017 Budgets.
But what caught my attention most was that the road curved around the image of the Bank of Guyana. I know that road well. It leads to Muneshwers Travel Service, where you can buy a plane ticket to go overseas. With the image of a plane flying overhead, it struck me that perhaps, at the subliminal level, there is a suggestion that the road to the good life may begin with the Budgets, but certainly ends with that plane ride to greener pastures outside of Guyana.
Guyanese are going to be foolish if they are waiting for the good life to be delivered by the APNU+AFC government. It is not going to happen, even if oil production begins in 2020. That oil production is dependent on what happens with the UN Good Offices Process. If the process is extended, as is expected, Exxon will not likely commit to oil production because the political risks are too high.
There is no way, with Maduro consolidating his position in Venezuela and the opposition further fragmenting, that Exxon is going to risk commencing production. They may say that they will do so, but that is a decision which they will reassess when the time comes.
But even with oil, the good life will not come. The best chance Guyanese have of the good life is to get on the next plane out and go to the United States where the good life can be had by all.
It is interesting that the billboard features that image of the Bank of Guyana. An analysis of Guyana’s international reserves, appearing in another newspaper yesterday, revealed that these have dipped below US$600M. This is not bad. Guyana does not need a higher level of reserves. What is disappointing is that this situation has been caused by what is claimed as a decline in export flows and capital flight.
So it seems that Guyanese are indeed pursuing the good life, overseas. They are sending their money outside, because they are not certain if this road to the good life ends up in the Demerara River.
One of the good things about Guyanese is that they have always been able to see beyond all the propaganda and political rhetoric. They see beyond the billboards. They know that the Guyanese economy is heading for the rocks. They have seen the decline in sales. They see money being wasted on trivialities such as billboards and on pomp and parades. They know that things are not going right in the economy. And so they are not spending as they would normally, and those who can do so, are sending their money for safekeeping overseas.
The Budget will be read soon, but there is nothing which is likely to be announced that will stop the capital flight or the human exodus. Guyanese know a sinking ship when they see it. Just look at the available dates to obtain an interview for a US visa. People are still applying. They want out.
When the Titanic went down, it was said that the band kept on playing. The pomp, the ceremonies and the billboards cannot save a sinking ship.

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