Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh on Monday hailed the strong support given by the United Nations towards human capital development, as he explained the positive developments of the country over the recent past.
“It would be fair to say that we have, as a country, recorded considerable progress in addressing main development challenges that we have faced…Guyana has been able to bring the country from bankruptcy to one where today, its economy is now viable and viewed as creditworthy by the world at large,” he said.
Minister Singh stated that over the last five years, Guyana’s fiscal deficit has decreased from 10 to four per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as government continues to invest in critical productive sectors.
“We have moved today from a place where we had effectively no external reserves to a point today where we have an equivalent of five months of import covered in external reserves,” he said.
Minister Singh was at the time speaking at the United Nations Development Programme’s Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) consultation at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC) in the presence of other government officials, members of the diplomatic corps and other high-ranking dignitaries.
Minister Singh said the UNDP and other members of the UN’s family of agencies have collaborated with government over the years, to design and implement a wide range of programmes which have achieved momentous development results.
Touching on the recent high food prices which have plagued many countries, the finance minister stated that the administration has invested tremendously in agriculture which has helped the country to reap benefits, making reference to the rice sector which is currently benefiting from strong external prices.
“On all these efforts, we have failed no effort as a government to establish and strengthen the environment we require for long-term growth and development… we have continued to invest in people and have achieved significant gains,” he said.
Dr Singh stated that while the administration is ensuring that the country develops at a rapid rate, the continued support of development partners is critical. The UNDP’s new five-year CPAP (2012-2016) was presented for discussion and for agencies to identify ways in which they can create alliances for its implementation.
Meanwhile, UNDP Resident Representative Khadija Musa expressed pleasure at the agency’s collaboration with the government to provide support, even as the country is undergoing noteworthy changes.
