For a second consecutive year, Guyana is ranked at 134 in the World Bank’s ease of doing business index.
Last year, Guyana dropped eight places in the World Bank’s rankings, moving to 134 out of 190 from a rank of 126 in 2017. The lower the numerical ranking, the better the business climate. In 2016, the country attained a rank of 124 but dropped two places the following year. 2016 had seen one of the country’s biggest gains in recent years on the ranking scale as it had moved up a whopping 16 places to 124 from 140 in 2015. In 2014, the country was ranked at 132. According to the latest report, Guyana made trading across borders more expensive by increasing the fees for mandatory inspection through scanners for exports, thereby increasing the cost of export border compliance.
Meantime, the World Bank’s business score captures the gap between an economy’s performance and its measure of best practice across the entire sample of 41 indicators for 10 ‘Doing Business’ topics (the labour market regulation indicators are excluded).
Presently in Guyana, the report said, it could take up to 208 days to get a construction permit and one has to complete 17 procedures. Eighty-two days is needed to get electricity and eight procedures must be completed. If there is need to register a property, six procedures must be completed and this can take as much as 46 days. And to start up an actual business, it will take up to 18 days to complete with seven procedures before that becomes a reality.
The report used a simple method to calculate which economies improved the ease of doing business score the most. First, it selected the economies that in 2018/19 implemented regulatory reforms making it easier to do business in three or more of the 10 topics included in this year’s aggregate ease of doing business score.
Forty-two economies met the criterion, according to the report, and they are: Armenia; Azerbaijan; The Bahamas; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Cabo Verde; China; Colombia; the Democratic Republic of Congo; Djibouti; the Arab Republic of Egypt; Eswatini; Gabon; India; Indonesia; Israel; Jordan; Kenya; Kosovo; Kuwait; the Kyrgyz Republic; Mauritius; Moldova; Morocco; Myanmar; Nigeria; Oman; Pakistan; Philippines; Qatar; the Russian Federation; Rwanda; Saudi Arabia; Serbia; Tajikistan; Togo; Tunisia; Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; United States; Uzbekistan; and Zimbabwe.
Doing Business is the World Bank Group’s flagship publication and the 17th in a series of annual reports measuring the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 190 economies—from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe—over time.
