Economic Performance
The Minister reported that Global output in 2020 was contracted 3.5 per cent and in Latin America and the Caribbean region contracted economic output 7.4 per cent in 2020. By contrast, reflecting Guyana’s first year as oil producing . country, the Minister reported an economic growth of 43.5 per cent. However, the non-oil sector’s performance in the Guyana economy was similar to that of our regional neighbors, recording a 7.3 percent deficit.
We summarize here under the sectors discussed by the Minister in his budget presentation.
Sectoral gains and losses announced by the Minister were as follows:
Source: Budget Speech 2021.
Ram & McRae comments:
This is the worst economic performance since 1989 and reflects the twin plague of the pandemic and the political tensions of the no confidence in December 2018 to declare the results of the elections in August 2020.
Inflation
Based on the Urban Consumer Price Index, the inflation rate for 2020 was 0.9%, slightly above the range of the negative 0.23% and 0.7%, projected in the September 2020 budget. According to the Minister, higher food prices triggered largely driven by higher prices of meat, fish and eggs, and vegetable and vegetable products largely offset by low energy prices.
Ram & McRae’s comment:
Inflation figures are always contested by individuals often based on personal experiences and anecdotal evidence. For the average person whose main mode of transportation is the minibus, lower energy prices did not translate to lower transport