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How to react to World Bank’s aid slight

May 07, 2020 Editorial

We will be dispassionate in this attempt at seeking some answers on the questions of aid for Guyana. As we search for some light in this troubling and the long silence, now broken, relative to aid not forthcoming, this will be lacking in anything critical. The issues of delay or actual non-approval loom large and ominous. In this time of crisis, and many related ones, we need relief most urgently, yet none comes.
It could be that, since the whole world is seriously affected by the COVID-19 virus, that the World Bank and other agencies of like stature are overwhelmed and working as swiftly as they can to dig out from the huge backlog of applications from all corners of the globe; it has with some ninety-three countries seeking urgent pandemic help. Now comes this revelation in the title of a story, “Guyana not among 93 countries benefiting from World Bank COVID-19 aid” (KN May 6). This is nothing indirect or inconsequential in this unwanted news, not with so many here, who are hoping for any kind of immediate relief.
This news is made even starker when another development is considered. The headline of KN’s April 29 announced to the world that, “IMF grants US$65.6M for Dominica, Grenada, and St. Lucia to address COVID-19 pandemic.”Those countries are from within region, which begs the question: if those can be approved to receive much needed and timely assistance, what happened to us? In spite of our most determined efforts to put the best light on this, it must be said that this is not looking good. Though we know where we stand now, we don’t know why this is so.
For in that same April 29 KN article, it was pointed out that though Guyana did not (yet) apply to the IMF, its “application to the World Bank for US$5M under its Rapid Response Emergency Facility…is still being processed over a month after the application was made.” The article also indicated that “Finance Minister, Winston Jordan has said that other multilateral agencies, of which Guyana is a member, have also been approached.”
A number of points jumped out. That World Bank Facility referred to and applied to is specifically dedicated to those “Emergency” situations requiring a “Rapid Response” yet in the instance of Guyana, over 30 days later, comes this grim news. Clearly, what Guyana has is a genuine emergency by any definition, and we are being bypassed, when the most rapid of responses is required. Though it may be damned as speculative, every rational inclination is to link to elections impasses. How can it not be?
In words from the Finance Minister we know that “other multilateral agencies…have also been approached.” All Guyana would be extremely interested in learning what is happening from those fronts also. What has been the response(s) from them? In the circumstances, silence is not golden, but reeks of the cautioning (at best) and of the menacing (at worst). Whichever it is, this is not comforting.
We also know that neighbouring Venezuela had applied for international assistance, but it has been denied. Currently, none of the agencies approached has come straight out and say “no” to Guyana’s requests for help. It could be there is some backchannel communication, which is preferred not to publicize. It may be the jawboning of, to borrow a central bank term, moral suasion. It could be that all such requests from Guyana have been placed on indefinite hold, pending local developments. That is, to allow time and opportunity for matters in our realm to develop, finalize, and regularize. We have gone to great lengths not to say little about politics or elections. Nonetheless, all circumstances considered, this has been one hell of a long process on the part of several agencies and a still longer wait by Guyana for whatever may come its way. To that we must add, if anything at all, since that also could be in play.
Meanwhile, a later caption from KN read, “US serious on threat of sanctions if elections results not credible “We stand by our word” -US Ambassador” (KN May 2). Something is up, and it is not positive. Things are happening.

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