The Alliance for Change (AFC) has shared its economic vision for Guyana’s development, while giving credit to President Bharrat Jagdeo for his administration’s role in stabilising the country’s economic rates since 2004.
AFC presidential candidate Khemraj Ramjattan, prime ministerial candidate Raphael Trotman and executive Cathy Hughes and AFC economic advisor Tarron Khemraj (at podium) at Pegasus Hotel
AFC executive and advisor Tarron Khemraj, addressing persons gathered at the Pegasus Hotel, Georgetown on Monday for a public lecture, gave credit to President Jagdeo and his administration for managing to stabilise the country’s exchange rates since 2004, despite the developments on the global scene.
He alluded to government’s prudent management of the Bank of Guyana and some aspects of its fiscal policy, hinting that more could be done economically to take Guyana further along the road to economic transformation.
Speaking more specifically about his party’s economic plan, Khemraj said that Guyanese can expect a deficit in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first two years if it wins the November polls. He said this deficit could be approximately 5.7 per cent.
It is expected that Guyanese would have to suffer the consequences of the deficit which the AFC described as necessary before any surplus in GDP. Surprisingly Khemraj said that “this would not impact on growth rates of the country” when quizzed by Guyana Times International. He explained that the deficit would be ” not so bad” and by year three of the party’s term in office it would have been reduced to a mere three or 2.5 per cent.
Cut VAT
Khemraj, who is an economist, explained that this deficit would arise largely because the party would implement several new policies and initiatives that would see the burden that Guyanese currently face being reduced significantly.
“We plan to cut the Value Added Tax, attract more investment, reduce and deal appropriately with the issue of in-sourcing and outsourcing of government work as well as the creation of jobs,” he advised in an invited comment after the lecture titled “From underdevelopment to economic transformation”. Khemraj noted that this deficit is workable considering the amount of revenue that the party hopes to generate from local and foreign direct investment, and it will be serviced by year three onwards. He was convinced that in order for Guyana to achieve “real” or “acceptable and improved” growth, production has to be increased, and workers must be made comfortable.
He stressed that the rationale behind this deficit, which weighed heavily on the minds of some present, was “bringing immediate relief to the masses”. Speaking to a gathering of about 50 persons, Khemraj explained that the AFC through its economic plan hopes to “transform” Guyana from its current state into one of the most dynamic economies in the world. He committed the AFC to achieving what some scholars believe are impractical growth rates for a developing country, without placing more burden on the poorer class and the country’s now emerging middle class. “We can do it. We can achieve growth rates of between six per cent and seven per cent,” Khemraj emphasised.
He boasted that the AFC had “tested” its estimates against the current estimates provided by government and made some adjustments to ensure that these huge growth rates could be achieved.
“If we grow by seven per cent then every 10 years Guyanese would be able to double their incomes,” he explained as he touted the AFC’s plan of increasing jobs by 20 per cent if it becomes the government. The professor says that with more private investment and with the exploitation of Guyana’s resources, all of these projections can be accomplished.
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