In February 2018, Exxon produced a 20-minute Facebook video in which its stated purpose was to address questions concerning the Oil Contract, Revenues and Taxes. At minute 10, the presenter declaims: Guyana is a frontier country. And, further states that the Guyanese people should be satisfied with the oil contract. Pronouncing Guyana as a “frontier…
On Thursday October 18th, 2018 the Stabroek News published an article entitled `Merrill Lynch interested in sovereign wealth fund’. The investment world has taken notice of the potential wealth that lays offshore in Guyana. The government should study the history of those who seek to bestow advice on how to manage Guyana’s potential windfall. The flawed oil contract…
On Friday August 17th, the Stabroek News published a letter by Business Minister Gaskin titled, `Mr Hinds completely omitted the profit sharing component of the Esso deal’. The Minister’s math does not compute. His cost per barrel is significantly more than what both Hess and the IMF have stated. I will work backwards from the…
Here is an idea that should be given top priority. Guyana needs to build up an entrepreneurial class. Guyana needs to develop a class of Guyana’s Product Brands. (Currently Guyana has only one such brand -15-year-old rum. Europe and North America cannot get enough of Guyana’s rum). Guyana needs a dozen new export products not…
I hope the Green Paper on the proposed Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) is a work in progress. The paper outlines a fiscal rule for withdrawals and the passive investment strategies for the foreign assets that will make up the Natural Resource Fund (NRF). It is quite intuitive why a NRF is necessary. It’s like a…
Professor Clive Thomas stimulated much discussion last week when he proposed the idea of a US$5000 per year cash transfer to Guyanese families. The fact that the proposal is open ended stimulated a lot of heated discussions on social media. Several claims were made: these payments will stimulate the money supply and therefore engender inflation;…
The proposal by Professor Clive Thomas of the distribution of cash from the projected oil revenue to every Guyanese household caught me by surprise. With the proposed payout, there is every likelihood that the price paid for goods and services will invariably increase, thus reducing the real purchasing power to the beneficiary. Firstly, we need…
I feel the coolness of the breeze that permeated the Guyana coastline from the letter penned by Chartered Accountant Nigel Hinds in the Kaieteur News of August 3. For this letter to be published just after we celebrated Emancipation Day seems very refreshing and applicable. Our Government should recognize, albeit their authority to govern our…
I was planning to write this week about the recent parliamentary debates over the role of the Bank of Guyana in the financial system and foreign exchange market. However, I will discuss the more recent appointment by President David Granger of the new head of the fledgling agency, the Department of Energy (DoE). There is…
