Iraq war will hurt Guyana -Kowlessar
Stabroek News
March 29, 2003
Finance Minister Saisnarine Kowlessar, says the government will be paying attention to the war in Iraq and will take the necessary action to protect the domestic economy.
In his 51-page budget presentation, Kowlessar noted that oil prices had steadily climbed upwards in the past few days after a steep decline.
While noting that the current international developments did not bode well for the world's economies including Guyana, he said reconstruction of Iraq after the war would see a drastic reduction in development aid to countries and would undermine the prospects of recovery, especially in the vital tourism sectors of the Caribbean islands.
He said reduced aid flows and foreign exchange earnings together with rising oil prices would exacerbate the fiscal and external balances of countries, curtailing the financing of critical social and poverty reduction programmes and increasing unemployment.
"When mixed with the volatile cocktail of rising crime, growing drug use and drug trafficking and the HIV/AIDS pandemic, among other social ills, such a scenario would be too difficult to contemplate," said Kowlessar. He said for this reason Guyana maintained that dialogue and diplomacy offered the best hope for resolving international disputes and differences.
He called for a speedy conclusion of the war and the fullest use of tested and proven means of conflict resolution.
Kowlessar also assured the National Assembly at the Ocean View Convention Centre yesterday that Guyana would continue to formulate and implement policies to allow it to exist and compete effectively within the Caricom Single Market and Economy, the Free Trade Areas of Americas and wider afield.
