Why statistics matter
How does the government decide whether speciality hospitals centrally located are preferrable to general hospitals across the country? Or whether the investment in a road in Region X is more critical than one in Region Y, when only one such road is possible at the time? Or be certain that the loss claimed by the farmers bore any relationship to their income declaration to the Guyana Revenue Authority? At best, if there are answers to these questions, they are known by few. The more likely answer is that no one knows, but judging by the Budget Speech, things are about to change and data collection and analysis which in the past have been a low priority matter is attracting both attention and funding.
As Guyana continues to make economic decisions involving billions of dollars, affecting current and future generations, the need for professionally collected, compiled and analysed statistics is a sine qua non for good decision-making and responsible governance. As the World Bank notes “In simple terms, [statistics] are the evidence on which policies are built. They help identify needs, set goals, and monitor progress. Without good statistics, the development progress is blind: policy makers cannot learn from their mistakes, the public cannot hold them accountable.”
Evidence-based policy has been defined as an approach which “helps people make well informed decisions about policies, programmes and projects by putting the best available evidence at the heart of policy development and implementation”. While statistics cannot measure every facet of lives, they are still the next best thing to enable our policymakers to formulate informed plans and to assign priorities. The importance and availability of timely and reliable statistics on socio-economic life of a sovereign nation cannot be over-stated. As economies become more complex and decisions more costly, statistics become indispensable. Some of the areas in which Statistics play a vital role include statistical indices such as GDP, inflation rate, poverty headcount, income per capita, labour force, housing, schooling, health outcomes, etc.
But this is not only a public sector matter. Indeed, the commercial banks rely heavily on the Bank of Guyana statistics for their planning and decision-making. The Geology and Mines Commission has a ton of raw statistics and valuable information which are generally shared with potential investors. After all, statistics are public goods and ought to be available to every person seeking relevant information. But with that right and benefit comes responsibility. By law, businesses and households are required to provide information requested periodically by the Bureau of Statistics. This duty must be enforced.
The year 2022 marks the Year of the Census and it is therefore timely that the Minister announced in his Speech that “the Government recognises the immense value and importance of quality, timely and reliable data to inform and drive policy and decision making at all levels.”
He has committed to strengthen the Bureau of Statistics and the National Statistical System to improve cooperation, coordination and streamlining of data capture, sharing, processing, analysis and reporting across the various statistical offices of Government to enhance the quality, timeliness and reliability of data.
The Budget proposes a subvention of $1 billion. That may not be enough in the year of the Census, but it is a good start.