The Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry is concerned over the continued failure of the economy to provide jobs for graduates of the country’s secondary schools and the University of Guyana.
The bank’s concern over high unemployment among secondary school and university graduates was expressed by the Chairman of its Board of Directors, Mr Robin Stoby at the company’s annual general meeting held at Le Meridien Pegasus hotel on Monday. Mr Stoby said that given the expectation of a lower rate of inflation in 2006 than 2005 he felt “that the focus of monetary policy, so successful in the past few years in curbing inflation, could be shifted to a more neutral or expansionary mode to spur investment and job creation”.
In his assessment of the country’s economic outlook for 2007 the GBTI Chairman said that the implementation of the Value Added Tax (VAT) and Excise Tax in January this year had led to “widespread concern that this would result in higher prices” and that while the government had made subsequent moves to exempt or zero rate additional basic items “many concerns still remain, particularly in the area of the interpretation of some of the provisions of the Act and in the failure to appoint the VAT Amendments Tribunal.”
In reviewing the initiatives taken by the bank last year Stoby said that the opening of a new branch at Lethem had been validated by the decision to re-start the construction of the bridge across the Takutu River.
The resumption of work on the bridging of the Takutu River is a key component of the long-awaited creation of a road link between Guyana and neighbouring Brazil and the establishment of a branch of the GBTI at Lethem marks the positioning of the Bank to respond to the service requirements that will derive from the completion of the road link.
In his report to the shareholders Stoby also identified the introduction of the bank’s Visa Travel Classic Card as one of the important banking initiatives undertaken last year. The new card was launched in November, months after the bank’s application for membership of Visa International was approved. And according to Stoby, this year GBTI will be seeking to offer local customers the full range of visa services.
In his report Stoby said that the GBTI had seized the opportunity to partner with various local entrepreneurs to build or upgrade hotels and to increase the stocks of craft items in preparation for the start next week of the Guyana leg of the Cricket World Cup 2007. “It is to be hoped that the attractions of our country will be highlighted and will be a fillip for our fledgling tourism sector,” he added.
