Dear Editor,
There can be no doubt that Guyana has come a long way in terms of the creation of a modern and broad-based economy. There is no longer almost complete reliance on the traditional sectors of rice, sugar and bauxite for our foreign exchange earnings as in previous years, even though these three sectors together continue to employ a significant proportion of the labour force. In this regard, the assurances given by President Donald Ramotar to inject significant resources to ensure the continuing viability of sugar and rice are highly commendable.
The economy is today much more diversified with gold, timber and forestry products bringing in significant inflows of foreign exchange. The same can be said of fishing and the export of non-traditional crops to Caribbean and North American markets. It is this growth in exports that is mainly responsible for the relatively stable exchange rate of the local currency vis-à-vis the United States dollar and other Western currencies.
This has also impacted favourably on our growth trajectory with the country experiencing its longest period of uninterrupted growth.
Apart from a stable exchange rate the country has experienced low inflation rates of some three per cent last year. In 2013, the inflation rate was a mere 0.9 per cent which was quite a remarkable performance having regard to the volatile and depressed global economic environment. The fact that inflation was kept within single digits for such a prolonged period speaks well of the country’s economic health and the stewardship of the economy by the current PPP/C administration.
This is why it is so important that we cannot go back to the days of a stagnant economy, runaway inflation and an a sinking dollar. We have made substantial progress over the years which has impacted positively on the quality of life of the Guyanese people.
Yours faithfully,
Hydar Ally
