DR CLIVE Thomas once referred to the People's National Congress (PNC) years as producing a crisis in all sectors of society. The People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration does have some minor difficulties as most Governments would have, but nothing close to the economic and political devastation alluded to by Thomas. However, an appreciation of some minor problems at this time will require some understanding of the baseline data on the state of affairs in Guyana when the PNC was democratically removed from office in 1992. This I will not address, as I have done so on several occasions.

But suffice me to say only at this point that from 1993 through 2000, the PPP/C Administration, outstripped the performance of the PNC Government for most of their years in office, in the average yield, production, and the export value of rice. The same scenario was true of sugar in production, exports, and local sales, for pretty much the same years. However, the global economic sluggishness and the international market volatility of rice and sugar prices have induced a slowdown in the rice and sugar industries. Plans are afoot to enable both industries, including the bauxite industry, to bounce back.

I want to say that there is no economic crisis. The economy may be sluggish now, but this economy is characterized currently by a number of positives based on a comparison made between the first half of this year and the first half of last year. The first half of this year showed the following: a higher national income; increase in earnings by deposit holders; reduced inflation rate; higher output in forestry, distribution, engineering and construction, non-durable goods industry, gold, and value added products in the mining and quarrying sector. What some critics do is to focus on the negatives and make conclusions. We are pointing out the positives, but we are aware that some negatives prevail. There is some economic sluggishness, but not characteristic of all sectors. In all of this, too, little attention is given to the global economic impact on small economies.

What has the PNC/R and its critics got to offer, given their judgment that we have a national economic problem on our hands? We may have to peruse the PNC/R's Manifesto to answer this question.

The major strategies for achieving the macroeconomic objectives presented in the PNC/R Manifesto are:

1. Legislative action - to produce an investment policy, and amendments to the insolvency legislation to help distressed businesses.

The PPP/C Administration has created opportunities for distressed businesses to be given loans at reduced interest rates; this approach will help such businesses to restructure and repay their debts, and also would receive technical assistance. This scenario will continue until the development bank is established.

2. New institutions - establishing a National Productivity Council that will devise policy initiatives for enhancing competitiveness and efficiency; establishing Guyana Investment Bureau (GIB) as a one-stop investment agency; and a Development Bank.

However, the private sector already recently completed work on the setting up of a development bank. The PPP/C Administration will establish this bank when the Caribbean Investment Fund is in place. Currently, discussions are underway between the President and the Guyana Manufacturers' Association to make this happen. Goinvest currently does operate as a one-stop agency. Why reinvent the wheel?

3. Fiscal Reform - Reforming the tax system to achieve equity, and facilitate efficiency in collection, and possible replacement of the consumption tax with a Value Added Tax (VAT).

Under the PPP/C Administration, the IMF conducted a study on the tax system between August and September 1999. Its recommendations include resisting the potential threat to the tax base, arising out of the consequences of regional and international trading arrangements; and efforts to be transferred away from international trade taxes to domestic taxes on consumption and income which will make the tax system more revenue productive. These recommendations are now on the table.

4. Upgrading the capital market - a Security Exchange Market will be established to mobilise private capital and diversify the economy.

The PPP/C Administration introduced in the National Assembly the Securities Industry Bill 1998, which was passed. It's awaiting an Order from the President to become effective. Also pending is a report from Jonathan Adams of the British Stock Exchange on the appropriate modality to be utilised in Guyana.

5. National programme in information technology - A Ministry of Science and Technology will be mandated to set up a national program in information technology.

The PPP/C Administration through the IAST already has a draft national policy on information technology.

6. Development of the Business Culture - this culture will evolve through a reformed secondary education curricula and enhanced on-the-job and close-to-the-job training.

Any changes in education curricula must be matched by congruent and simultaneous changes in the occupational structure. The skills produced by the community high school and the multilateral secondary school, first introduced in the 1970s, at that time, did not meet the job requirements of the occupational structure. In effect, skills assimilated at schools were incongruent to the labour market skill requirements. At that time, the primary labour market still was elitist, and therefore, favoured students from the elite high schools. The PNC/R Manifesto seems to be unaware of this issue.

7. Privatisation - the PNC/R's position is that commercial activity is better addressed through the private sector.

The PPP/C Administration is continuing with privatisation efforts. The focus also is on improving the management of the remaining private bodies by setting up a national asset register of all properties and assets owned or controlled by Government. The holding company, National Industrial and Commercial Investment Limited (NICIL), is expected to be merged with the Privatisation Unit.

Most of these PNC/R strategies to achieve the broad macroeconomic objectives, already are being implemented by the PPP/C Administration.

No clear monetary strategy is mentioned in the macroeconomic section of the Manifesto. For instance, the Manifesto should indicate how it intends to sustain a low interest rate level in the interests of fiscal deficit reduction; to achieve this level, would the PNC/R utilise a smaller volume of bond issues, and allow debt instruments to be issued over a longer period? Another example of monetary policy is the need to liberalise the exchange market; this also is not clearly presented.

In relation to fiscal reform, the Manifesto contains little or no specifics on the following: VAT, non-standardised import tariff schedule, the percentage of corporate taxes for both commercial and non-commercial companies, how tax holidays are to be addressed, the availability of micro-credit facilities, privatisation, and export promotion.