Guyana’s Finance Minister refuses to back up claims of ‘drug-fuelled economy’ under previous govt
Minister of Finance Winston Jordan has bluntly refused a request from the Private Sector Commission (PSC) for him to back up claims he made a few days ago which state that Guyana’s economy was partly fueled by drugs money under the Peoples Progressive Party administration.
During an engagement with the local media on Wednesday, the Finance Minister referred to two studies that were conducted by Economics Professor Clive Thomas which pointed to the impact of drug money on the Guyanese economy pre-2015.
On Wednesday, the Finance Minister again restated comments made recently that Guyana’s economy today is “proof positive” that the economy was being supported by drugs.
“I will tell you this much, where the economy is today is proof positive that the economy was being run by drugs, by significant input from drugs”, Jordan said.
Challenged by the media again as to whether he would satisfy the request by the PSC, Jordan said he is busy with the budget and other activities and therefore does not have the time to waste on such a request.
“I don’t see any reason why they’re asking me for empirical evidence. I don’t know whether it’s a ploy. I’ve made my contention, they’ve made theirs. I didn’t say every Private Sector person, business or wealth was derived from… I said, if you go back and check my speech, you’ll see what I said,” the Minister had said last Friday.
Recently, in a response to an editorial done by one of the leading dailies that waded into Minister Jordan’s handling of the financial sector, Jordan had retorted, inter alia, “you must have forgotten, conveniently, the deformed and broken economy that our Government inherited in 2015. Lest we forget, too, that economy thrived on rampant drug trafficking, money laundering, and a banking sector in which a few institutions recklessly lent funds for private white elephant projects.”
The PSC subsequently said it had taken note of the recent statement by Jordan on the impact of the proceeds of drugs on the economy and in an effort to understand the “empirical evidence” relied upon by the Minister, the Commission said it has sought to obtain a briefing by him and, to this end, had dispatched a letter to the Minister.
Jordan, since his Government came to power in 2015, has made several accusations that the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Administration before him was able to reflect growth in the economy because it proliferated the trade of drugs.
This contention has never been supported by evidence from the Minister and the few cases put together by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) were not only aimed at former Government officials rather than money launderers, they fell through for lack of evidence.
In an interview in 2016, the Finance Minister also attributed the reduction in consumer spending to a decrease in illegal activities, including narco-trafficking, which he said had created a parallel economy.
