Exchange rate is an area that does not need regulation at this time

Dear Editor,

In the 2015 elections, Mr Granger campaigned on creating jobs for young people. He blasted the then PPP government for the lack of jobs and a poor economy even though Foreign Direct Investments were at an all-time high, GDP growth was positive and money was circulating and everyone was benefiting from that circulation. Businesses and jobs were booming, and even the vendors and horse-cart owners were doing well. Houses were being built, cars being bought, there were savings in households and banks lending money. He was quoted during the campaign as saying young people with 10 CXCs subjects were working at the Pizza place or were bus conductors. These individuals all had jobs then. He said the PPP was not doing anything for jobs.

Fast forward to 2017, and he now says, “Government is not in the business of creating jobs”, while his Minister of Business is begging us to become entrepreneurs. What hypocrisy: promise the earth while trying to get into power and change your tune when you have achieved your objective. The question now is how can they ever achieve what they had promised ‒ with what money or with which products? They have basically squandered their inheritance from the PPP/C, uplifting their ministers’ salaries no sooner than they had got into government and now shutting down our economy with failed 1980s policies.

Granger as the out-of-touch President seems to be facilitating a Cabinet that is

simply panicking because they cannot get it right. Government’s intention to tighten the foreign exchange currency regulations will have deleterious consequences on trade and commerce in Guyana, Opposition Leader Dr Jagdeo has warned.

This is where President Granger and his team keep getting it totally wrong. They want to control the economy. The exchange rate is an area that does not need regulation at this time. Just one more indicator of poor management of our economy which is causing a ripple effect on businesses. Such monetary policy will severely affect our domestic economy leading to a decrease in income and jobs. We should not simply follow a contractionary monetary policy.

Why would anyone want to leave their money in Guyana, knowing the possibility of regulating our exchange rate convertibility? It will certainly add a new layer of uncertainty and bureaucracy to the trading process. We have already seen a slow-down of the money in circulation. The PPP Budget in 2014 was $220 billion; the APNU+AFC Budget for 2017 was a whopping $250 billion. I raised the question before: if the PPP was stealing so much money each year and we now assume that no money was stolen in the last 2 years, and APNU+AFC have $30 billion more to spend in their budget, why then is there no money in the economy? The answer is simple; it was a false assumption. They can’t even manage the economy with a bigger budget, yet they continue to tax us to death, with over 200+ new taxes and new ways such as parking meters to get at our hard-earned dollars.

As we continue to analyse in real time the differences in the management of our economy post the PPP administration, one can understand why many across the political divide feel the need to return to the sound fiscal management of the PPP. The contrast of results and outcomes can now be measured with real data. Steady positive growth of our economy for over a decade to declining growth over the last two years under APNU. Even the sleeping AFC has finally come out against the parking meters because both the PPP and citizens have expressed their outrage at the draconian measures presented by the PNC-run city council.

Yours faithfully, Peter R Ramsaroop