Dear Editor,
The following views on the political developments in the 1990s are intended to provide young Guyanese (18-25 years) in particular, with a broader understanding of the nature of the existing political struggle for state power. They would have gathered enough knowledge on living conditions under both the PNCR and PPPC administrations in the 2000s. But they would not necessarily have had a good understanding of the evolution of the political struggle in the 1990s and even before. This is an attempt to cast their focus in this direction.
The 1990 period was chosen for four reasons: (1) it signified the restoration of electoral democracy; (2) ended 24 years of authoritarian rule; (3) marked the end of the downswing (collapse) in the economy (1977-1990); and (4) highlighted the role of debt relief in the country’s economic recovery. The 1992 elections (free and fair) were held under a Carter-Hoyte brokered agreement that allowed for (i) the preparation of an accurate voters’ list; (ii) a balanced election commission; and (iii) votes to be counted and declared at polling places. Some PNCR members, however, were skeptical. Former Prime Minister Hamilton Green wrote: “I advised President Hoyte to abort the 1992 vote as the lists were clearly flawed but he refused to, I did not want to create mayhem.”
The PNCR’s disenchantment over their 1992 electoral defeat was expressed in resistance and other forms of street violence. Rioters who stormed the Elections Center and the GECOM Headquarter, terrified President Jimmy Carter who was forced to seek the US State Department’s intervention. “The most personal danger I have felt since leaving the White House was in Guyana in 1992.” Persistent social agitation (making the country ungovernable and use of incendiary rhetoric, ‘slow fiah mo fiah’) exploded in mayhem in January 1998 following the victory of the PPPC at the 1997 and the 2001 elections. PNCRites claimed that the voters’ list was flawed, but an independent audit by International IDEA found the list to be 99% accurate.
In the 1980s the economy was in serious distress. Guyana defaulted on debt service; the country’s GDP shrunk by –13.19% in 1982 and –6.9% in 1983; inflation was 40% in 1988, while the public debt of $(US) 1.8 billion in 1988 was spinning out of control; poverty level was 43%; and international reserves were $(US) 26.6 million in 1990 (enough to cover for just 4 weeks’ imports). Guyana’s PNC President, Desmond Hoyte, was forced to broker an IMF Economic Recovery Program (ERP) that required the privatization of state corporations, removal of trade barriers and price controls, allow the Guyana currency to float, provide for poverty reduction, consolidate and strengthen the public sector management, initiate social sector reforms, and improve balance of payments.
The implementation of these measures not only dismantled the “command and control” structure of the economy (1968-1992) but also led to the dramatic devaluation of the Guyana dollar: from $(G) 3 to $(US) 1 in 1985 to $(G) 145 to $(US) 1 in 1993, while 17% (6,000) of public service workers were retrenched along with 7,000 from state-owned corporations. Industrial relations and collective bargaining became a casualty in the process. The country’s access to a concessionary loan under the ESAF (Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility) in the sum of $(US) 72.7 million that was suspended in 1991 (because the then government could not meet the targets set) was restored in 1999.
When the PPP took office in 1992 they had to allocate 50% of foreign exchange (forex) for debt service, and 40% forex were for fuel payments, leaving only 10% to run government operations; they had to tame inflation which was 101.5% in 1991 and brought it down to single digit; they increased international reserves at an average annual of $(US) 268.06 (during 1992-1999) from $(US) 191.43 in 1992; they achieved an annual growth rate of 7.3% in the 1990s; succeeded in reducing the public external debt that was $(US) 2.1 billion in 1992 to $(US) 1.196 billion in 2000 mainly through debt relief negotiated with the Paris Club and the World Bank/IMF Enhanced Highly Indebted Poor Countries (EHIPC) and related Mul-tilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI).
Market reform: The message from the 1990s was clear: open market reforms saved the country from economic collapse. There is no turning back in the foreseeable future. The debt burden would no longer be an albatross around Guyanese necks. The IMF projects that 4.8% of the country’s revenues would be used to service the external public debt in 2022.
Sincerely,
Dr. Tara Singh
