Minister of Finance Winston Jordan and Bank of Guyana Governor Dr Gobind Ganga yesterday insisted that there is no sluggishness in the economy, while saying that the numbers show the economy is doing well and is projected to do even better by year end.
“It was suggested that let the IMF [International Monetary Fund] come and let them tell us. Well, the IMF was here about two or three weeks ago…and they said… that generally the economy is in good shape. That the economy grew by 3% last year and that it is projected to grow by at least 4% this year. This clearly cannot be an economy that is on the decline, is sluggish and so on,” Jordan told a press conference yesterday.
This pronouncement comes at a time when the opposition has publicly said that there is a slowdown in the economy and Jordan has acknowledged that there is reduced spending due to a dent in the pillars of the parallel economy.
Opposition leader Bharrat Jagdeo has expressed the view that government does not have any plans to develop the economy and that after one year of APNU-AFC in office, Guyanese are worse off.