| Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon has announced in response to the revelation in the media that Guyana was ranked the second poorest country in CARICOM by the World Bank based on the per capita income, that the information has to be taken in context of how Guyana is growing and the size of its economy.Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger LuncheonAccording to Luncheon, “The lower your base is, the easier it is to show increases. If you look at the size of the economy and you compare it with many municipalities in Venezuela and in Brazil, you would come to get a good appreciation of why size counts because indeed our economy here is perhaps a small economy, a very small economy in terms of economies worldwide.“If you pick about 193 countries and you look and see where the Guyana economy ranks, it probably ranks in the latter 10 percent; we don’t have that large economy.”Dr. Luncheon did say that the work needs to be done,Alex Anzalone Jersey, and stressed that the work done needs to be measured over time since according him “no matter where you are an index of the health of your economy is its growth. But if you have a small economy and it is growing you can cultivate the expectations that in the future you will get there.”Dr. Luncheon said recently at his press conference that Cabinet reported eight successive years of growth in GDP (Gross Domestic Product). This, he mentioned, was because of prudent management of the economy and sound macroeconomic fundamentals.He said that note has to be taken of the record production in rice and declaration of gold.Dr. Luncheon also said that the redistribution of wealth which is a principal rule of any government comes into play when the GDP is increased. He posits that an increase in GDP comes with additional resources for a variety of uses.“Some countries decide all we are going to do with the additional resources,Cheap Hockey Jerseys, invest in our economy to make the economy grow faster,Cheap NFL Jerseys, other people say no, we are going to be a little bit more measured some of it we are going to put in the recurrent cost of welfare and the provision of social health and goods and services.”“We are the only ones in the Caribbean that ensure free health care,Wholesale Soccer T-shirts, free education. In many of these countries they don’t. There is no constitutional obligation in many of our countries. It’s a decision that’s made that has a lot to do with what you get out of your Gross Domestic Product. Our growth, we insist, goes to redistribution of wealth and to promote yes, further growth but never to ignore the welfare of Guyanese,” said the Cabinet Secretary.Dr. Luncheon said that for last year it has been documented that there are improved performances in the health sector, in the education sector,China Jerseys, in the housing sector, in the human security and social security sector,Cheap Shoes From China Free Shipping, and within the welfare sector for less fortunate Guyanese and elderly pensioners.The Head of the Presidential Secretariat added that the redistribution of wealth has a role to play within the provisions of how much money is allocated to increase the public servants wages. “The developmental economist would say to you all of the options are there for the elected government to make if you decide that you have an x percent growth in your GDP and I am going to put every cent into welfare,Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping, into consumption then you probably could get a 20 percent increase but I will tell you this, when you invest in consumption and you don’t pay attention to growth then you have to ask yourself if no growth the next year then what?“This is where the sound macro-economic fundamentals come in and social policy, how much can you determine should be put on the consumption side and how much on the investment side.” |
