– Guyana records a 74 percent increase in exports, ECLAC reports
The year 2020 was laden with adversity and undoubtedly laborious, but Guyana overcame the obstacles and remained resilient, recording a 30.9 percent year-end economic growth. Guyana’s economic resilience was documented by the United Nations (UN) in its recently released 2021 Economic Situation and World Forecast (WESP) report.
The world economy reportedly grabbed 4.3 percent in 2020, more than two and a half times more than during the 2009 global financial crisis.
Developed economies, which are forecast to see output growth of four per cent in 2021, increased 5.6 per cent in 2020, due to economic closure and the subsequent waves of the pandemic, increasing the risk of premature austerity measures that would only derail restoration efforts. globally.
Developing countries saw a less severe contraction at 2.5 percent, with a 5.6 percent rebound expected in 2021, according to estimates presented in the report.
Guyana, driven by developments in its emerging oil and gas industry, and other economic sectors, survived the ‘storm’ and recorded positive growth.
This positive trend is expected to continue in the near term, as the country is forecast to record 8.1 per cent growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year and GDP growth of 8.5 per cent in 2022.
The United Nations warned, however, that the devastating socio-economic impact of the new coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) will be felt for years to come unless smart investments in economic, social and climate resilience ensure a robust and sustainable recovery of the global economy. .
The modest 4.7 percent global recovery expected in 2021 would hardly offset 2020 losses, the United Nations said.
The report underlined that continued recovery from the pandemic will depend not only on the size of stimulation measures, and the rapid introduction of vaccines, but also on the quality and effectiveness of these measures to build future resilience to shock.
“We are facing the worst health and economic crisis in 90 years. As we mourn the increasing death toll, we must remember that the choices we make now will determine our collective future, ”United Nations
Secretary General António Guterres said in the report.
He further added: “Let’s invest in an inclusive and sustainable future driven by smart policies, effective investments, and a strong and effective multilateral system that puts people at the heart of all socio-economic endeavors.”
The pandemic has exposed the systemic vulnerability of the world economy. It has also shown that sustainable development – promoting inclusive and equitable growth, reducing inequality and improving environmental sustainability – can provide safeguards and resilience against future crises.
According to the United Nations, it is clear that there is no sustainable development without resilience and there is no resilience without sustainable development.
RESTORATION
“Building economic, social and environmental resilience must lead the recovery from the crisis. Economic resilience with new fiscal and debt sustainability frameworks, social resilience with universal social protection schemes and climate resilience with more investments in the green economy must be resilient recovery blocks, ”the UN said.
Latin America and the Caribbean in particular have suffered the devastating consequences of the pandemic, as evidenced by the heavily implemented human toll and the enormous economic damages received.
The health decline has been accompanied by an economic decline in historic proportions, which follows several years of disappointing growth.
The decline was caused by prolonged national locks, weaker commodity exports and a fall in tourism, driving a sharp rise in the number of the poor. Moreover, the crisis has been responsible for further obstacles to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by exacerbating deep-rooted structural inequalities, for example, between formal and informal workers, and between women and men.
Despite severe fiscal constraints, many of the region’s governments have adopted significant stimulus packages in response to the pandemic. This support, along with financial easing, gradual lifting of restrictions and the accumulation of global economic activity, has driven a modest recovery starting in the second half of 2020.
However, aggregate output is only expected to reach its pre-crisis level by the end of 2023. In addition, the recovery is likely to remain fragile and uneven, with significant political risks and the prospect of a debt crisis looming in several countries in the region.
Guyana, unlike other Caribbean countries, had to contend with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and a lengthy electoral process.
The year 2021, according to the President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, will be the starting point for Guyana’s leap into recovery, rebuilding the economy, improving people’s health and raising the vulnerable in groups in society.
“We must not remain a rich country of poor people,” the President confirmed, noting that Guyana’s bounty must be shared across the population.
This country, after receiving a US $ 49.3 million payment for its fourth oil lift, ended the year on a high note with around US $ 200 million generated so far from the nascent oil and gas sector country.
OIL REVENUE
Given the country’s oil revenues and other lucrative sources of income, the President believes that the standard of living and quality of life for all must be raised. Work will be rewarded; hard work will be rewarded even more, he said.
“Opportunities will be created to join such work, and will be available to everyone. I recognize that there are communities in our society who, because of the disadvantages of geographical location, will need more help than others to join our national progress, ”President Ali reasoned.
The country will have to identify those communities, assess their needs, identify solutions, and implement plans to change their circumstances. This change will not happen overnight, it will take time. But each journey begins with a first step, the President said.
Guyana has a solid foundation to build on, as the country recorded a 74 percent increase in exports last year.
This was according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in its International Trade Forecast for Latin America and the Caribbean 2020.
“Guyana is a special case among the Caribbean economies, as it begins to export oil in the first half of the year (Bank of Guyana, 2020). This made the country the largest export country during the period (74%), ”the report noted.
In President Ali’s assessment, Guyana’s economic recovery is well under way, with the business communities in Georgetown and elsewhere reporting better performances over the recent holiday season, than any of the previous five years.
And this was achieved, even with the limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic. The President believes there is more money in circulation, and more disposable income in people’s pockets than the country has seen for a long time.