Author: ChrisRam

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As a statutory body the GEA must file annual reports

I write in response to the letter by the Honourable Prime Minister (‘The Guyana Energy Agency is being reasonably well run published in SN of September 14, 2013’), which he said was written out of “a need and a duty to set the record straight, [and] dispel any erroneous concerns and doubts” created about the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA). Continue reading “As a statutory body the GEA must file annual reports”

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Mid-year 2013 report – a financial commentary

Introduction
Once again the mid-year report required under the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act (FMAA) was published within the statutory deadline and once again publicly released before being laid in the National Assembly. As the calendar would have it, the National Assembly is usually on its two months recess when the mid-year report is scheduled for release. In a positive kind of way the report is unremarkable, no dramatic developments one way or the other, except perhaps in sugar where GuySuCo continues to cause serious headaches for the Government and no doubt those closely associated with or dependent on the sub-sector and the slow start to the capital expenditure programme.

Unlike his annual Budget Speech which is well-known for its prose and politics, Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh stuck to a pattern of using only as much language as to place whatever numbers he wants to discuss into context. The report cannot be faulted in its requirement to give an account of the year-to-date execution of the annual budget but does seem short on explanations and clarification as well as on the prospects for the remainder of the year. The FMAA requires the report to address a number of other issues which this report at best only addresses tangentially or not at all. It specifically requires:

(a) an update on the current macroeconomic and fiscal situation, a revised economic outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, and a statement of the projected impact that these trends are likely to have on the annual budget for the current fiscal year;

(b) a comparison report on the out-turned current and capital expenditures and revenues with the estimates originally approved by the National Assembly with explanations of any significant variances; and

(c) a list of major fiscal risks for the remainder of the fiscal year, together with likely policy responses that the Government proposes to take to meet the expected circumstances.

The report does not have a specific section dealing with Outlook for the second half of the year and the Conclusion, consisting of two paragraphs, is a very brief summary of the contents of the completed half-year. There is not sufficient information to support some of the broader statements in the report which does not capture, in particular, (c) above, factors of relevance not only for the macro-economy but individual businesses and segments as well.
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Energy Policy for Guyana – Conclusion

Introduction
Readers will recall that Plainly Business noted last week that the country has had no energy policy since 2004. In fact I had quite a surprise when the response I received from a top level political operative about Guyana’s current energy policy was “you all just killed the policy”, in reference no doubt to the Amaila Falls Hydroelectricity Project. Had the comment not been made by a very high-ranking official it would have been easy to think it came from someone unfamiliar or unconnected with the energy. At the time, given the authority and responsibility of the individual, I thought the comment was tragically uninformed. On reflection the person was right since, as has now been established, there is no policy.

Before proceeding into the post-1994-2004 era it might be useful to note that in a document Strategic Plan 2012–2016, the Guyana Energy Agency as it is called admitted that while Guyana’s energy policy is to ensure that reliable energy is provided to all in Guyana within an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable framework, many of the Policy’s objectives set out in the 1994-2004 National Energy Policy have not yet been fulfilled.
Continue reading “Energy Policy for Guyana – Conclusion”