This afternoon’s budget presentation to the National Assembly by Finance Minister Winston Jordan will communicate to the people of Guyana the chosen developmental direction of the APNU-AFC coalition government over the next five years, Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin told Stabroek Business in an interview on Wednesday.
Well-placed public officials with whom Stabroek Business has spoken have been tight-lipped about the political administration’s first one-year budget, though Gaskin said the financial allocations made will properly “launch the work of the ministries and agencies towards their 2020 goals.” He said that “particular significance” is being attached to this year’s budget since the expectation is that revenue accruing therefrom will exceed “targeted revenue” in order that there could be a bigger budget next year.
Gaskin, meanwhile, has provided this newspaper with clarification on the kick-starting of the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest), which he said was a key agency in the pursuit of investment in the country but where direction had been “lacking.” While confirming that a decision had been made on the appointment of a Chief Executive Officer for the entity he said that there had as yet been “no formal offer and no formal response.” He said it had been his wish that an appointment could have been made by January this year, but he now believes the assumption of duty by the new head of GO-Invest was “imminent.”
Meanwhile, Gaskin said that what was announced last year as a planned public/private sector National Economic Forum had begun as “a PSC initiative” and that the government had signalled its preparedness to collaborate with the private sector in the initiative. While this newspaper had been told that the forum was originally planned to take place last September, Gaskin said on Wednesday that there had been “no further discussion on the issue since August or September” last year nor, as far as he was aware, had there been and other formal communication on the matter.
“While we would be encouraged to participate in such a forum we believe that the private sector should host and control that forum. Additionally, I believe that if such a forum is to take place we need to establish who the stakeholders are,” Gaskin said.
Alluding to the 2014 National Economic Forum hosted by the previous administration Gaskin said that as far as he was aware there had still been no formal report on it. “It is important that we get value for money out of those exercises,” he added.
