PSC alarmed at gov’t rebuke over concerns about economy -says response did not address perception of decline

The Private Sector Commission (PSC) last evening called the government’s dismissal of the business community’s lack of confidence in its management of the economy disappointing, while noting that it failed to address any of the concerns raised about the perception of a decline.

Government, in a strongly-worded statement on Friday, rebuffed criticisms from the private sector about the state of the economy and accused it of mounting “the bandwagon of negative forces that are determined to resist legal and structural changes that are aimed at improving the

investment and business environment in Guyana.” “The Government of Guyana deems it rather shameful that the PSC has allowed itself to be used as a political stool pigeon to repeat the propagandistic chatter of the opposition and to seek to undermine confidence in our economy and good governance,” the government said in the statement, which was issued by Director of Public Information Imran Khan.

The statement was a response to a PSC statement issued on the previous day, in which it said that its affiliates at a meeting on Monday voiced concern over what they called a decline of the economy.

The PSC, in a statement issued yesterday, said that it was both surprised and disappointed that the government would choose to respond with “vitriol to what was, not the view of the Private Sector Commission, but a cry for help from the beleaguered business community.”

It lamented that the government, which was elected to serve the people of Guyana, used such pejorative terms as “political stool pigeon” to refer to a large cross-section of the business community.

“The Private Sector Commission is a democratic organization which represents close to five thousand micro, small, medium and large businesses through their membership of the twenty four Sectoral Member Organisations which each have a seat on the governing Council of the Commission,” it said, while noting that these persons all have diverse political views which span the spectrum and the PSC respects all of their views.

“The Government’s statement that it has “full respect for business” is made a travesty by the entire content and tone of its missive,” it added.

The PSC further said that it is fully supportive of government policies when they accord with a climate in which the private sector, and indeed the people of Guyana, can prosper and expand, creating jobs and adding to the national patrimony for true development. “The right and proper path for the Government to follow if it is perturbed by the expressed views of the business community is to engage the Commission in constructive dialogue aimed at resolving the highlighted problems, especially in view of the healthy relationship which the Commission and the Government have enjoyed since its assumption of office,” the statement added.

Further, the PSC said that it was also “alarmed” at the fact that the entire missive, purportedly emanating from the government, addressed none of the points raised in the Commission’s statement and did not attempt to answer the perception of the business community that the economy is on the decline. It said the perception that could be easily refuted by the government were it not evident by the economic data which the government itself disseminates.