With business owners complaining of a reduction in sales, President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce Inc (GCCI) Vishnu Doerga says the APNU+AFC government should “hold off on new forms of taxation.”
In an invited comment, Doerga told Stabroek News that government should also put a hold on “other measures that would cause the cost of living or cost of doing business to increase at this point in time.”
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo said at a press conference on Wednesday last that increased taxes would result in the country facing a bleak future, lamenting that the government has “no plan or vision.”
He also said “We have seen the creeping mix of policies designed to bring further hardships” and that the “enforcement of a container tax will add cost to business activities and ultimately would be passed on to the consuming public.”
When asked, Doerga responded that some businesses have indicated that there is a “slow down,” and “not many companies have reported significant growth.”
As such, he indicated that government needs to find ways to accelerate spending in order to drive more revenue in the economy.
He pointed out that based on research, the country is behind in its spending of the $200 billion budget that has been approved for this year.
The chamber head lamented that 60% of the economy depends on gold, rice, sugar and even bauxite and that “if the prices are low, less money would be circulated.”
He noted that, “Until we get to a stage where we get more sectors developed, we’ll always have these problems… If there’s nothing to distinguish or add value to products, we’ll always be at the mercy of the world market prices.”
Regent St
Owners of businesses along Regent Street, told this newspaper they believe their sales have dropped as a result of competition they are facing from the Chinese stores that are selling at much cheaper prices.
“A lot of people shopping in wholesale quantities from the Chinese stores and then they go to the pavement and can afford to sell them back real cheap… They don’t have to pay overhead expenses, like bills or staff and it is not fair on us,” one store owner said.
They also believe that the low turnover is caused by the many vendors who have been popping up on the pavements daily.
In this regard, Doerga commented that some of the concerns are that efforts should be made for the existence of a “level playing field for all private sector entities.”
He said too that “compliant businesses are forced to shoulder the entire burden while defaulters continue to run them out of business.” The situation, he said, has put “legitimate businesses under pressure.”
In a previous interview, head of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Edward Boyer had also told Stabroek News that government needs to increase spending.
He had indicated that there is a decline, but acknowledged that when a “new government takes the helm, there is a correction period.”
Boyer’s statement had come in the wake of increasing concerns in the private sector that business activity has slumped significantly for a variety of reasons and citizens are withholding spending.
He had said he did not know how long the period of decline would last but that government needs to put money into the economy to fast-track contracts and create a momentum so that there can be growth.
With half of the year gone already, there is only about 17% to 20% of the expected spending in the economy, Boyer asserted, noting that there needs to be an increase in government spending.
His remarks followed a declaration by Junior Vice-President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Nicholas Boyer that his businesses and others he knew of, were experiencing a 30 to 40 per cent decline in sales, due to falling commodity prices and reduced employment.
Nicholas Boyer was speaking at a luncheon hosted by the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) which was addressed by Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin.
Nicholas Boyer had asked Gaskin to indicate what policies would be put in place over the next 12 months to improve things. Gaskin’s reply was that there is no short-term solution to tackle fluctuating global commodity prices but there has to be a continuum of systematic measures to ensure that the country has other means of garnering revenue.
Business down
Clyde de Haas, Managing Director Unicomer (Guyana) Inc, home of the Courts and Lucky Dollar brands, said business “is down” so far for this year as compared with last year.
He told Stabroek News that sales have dropped by about 6 % to 8%.
Checks at Ashmin’s, a well-known retailer, found that there was hardly any business going on. This newspaper tried to make contact with the owners but was told that they were not available at the time.
The escalators, though functioning, were not activated. An employee said the “electricity cost was very high and the business was low” so it was not economical to run the escalator.
The doors to the second floor where household items and clothing are sold were locked and a sign indicated that customers should use the entrance on the lower floor. This leads to a clothing store and a supermarket.
This newspaper observed a few customers entering and asking prices. Two others came with uniform vouchers that could not be cashed and left.
The once thriving store has rented some sections out to other businesses and recently an advertisement said that spaces were available in the building. Two of the spaces were expected to be occupied by the beginning of this month.
At present, there is no business operating on the second and third floors.
A clothing store and another selling organic products have rented sections of the bottom flat.
An employee from one of the stores said that sometimes only one item would be sold for a day. The store also had to downsize its staff.
Another employee from Ashmin’s said the decline in business has been happening for the past four years. She recalled that when the store first opened, “we didn’t have hands to sell customers… Now we have more workers than customers.”
She is confident though that the business can “pick up” and be vibrant again providing the economy improves.
