Georgetown: Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Eddie Boyer, has indicated that local businesses are continuing to experience a severe downturn. However, he said that based on reports received from members of the Commission, things are not as bad as they were a few months ago.
Boyer said that some commercial businesses have picked up, but whether this upswing will be maintained is yet to be seen. He said that the slight upswing can be attributed to the reopening of school and the fact that the Christmas season is just around the corner.
“The buying and trading have started already; you will definitely see an increase in business,” said Boyer.
However, the businessman said that this little improvement may not be nearly significant enough to effect a real change in the pressure being felt by business owners across Guyana.
Boyer said that it is left to be seen, by the end of the year, how close will be the growth rate as compared to the rate projected by the Ministry of Finance.
“This slight upswing may not reflect any major change in the overall performance of the business sector at the end of the year. It does not look like we will achieve the growth rate that the Minister had indicated but we are all optimistic that we can maintain the slight upswing that we have seen,” said Boyer.
The businessman continued, “It is not the best year so we’re hoping. We are still hoping that things will pick up further before the year is over.”
Just recently, Guyana’s foreign exchange rocketed to as high as $230 to US$1. This was blamed on the scarcity of the US dollar as a result of limited exportation and high importation. So, much US goes out but little returns.
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