Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo. AFP PHOTO

Over the past several months, Jagdeo has attended a number of meetings of the IMF/World Bank in Washington, lobbying for debt write-off. “I wrote to the Presidents of several countries. I met with Mr Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer in the United Kingdom. We wrote the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) itself…,” the President said.

He indicated that the Governors have already voted on 100 percent debt relief for the five Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) in the region; Guyana, Bolivia, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua, which would be effective from January 1, 2007. He noted, however, “The Bank’s staff was proposing that the cut-off date be December 2003, and only fully disbursed loans would have been eligible, which would reduce the debt relief significantly, to the five countries.”

He indicated that following his visit to Cochabamba, Bolivia, last December, the Presidents of 12 South American countries supported the passage of a resolution, which insisted that the cut-off date for the debt relief be December 2004, and that the total stock should be eligible. “We’re very pleased that the Bank is now inclined to discuss that proposal,” he indicated.

Jagdeo expressed surprise that several European countries abstained from voting on the last proposal which evolved from the Board of Governors, to grant 100 percent debt relief, effective January 1, 2007. “Most of the European countries abstained, and I find this very strange since they like to say that they are in the forefront of assisting the developing world, including the UK...,” he said.

Since 1992, the Guyana government has reduced the external debt burden by more than US$1 billion, thereby providing more revenues for the development of social services, including housing, education, and healthcare.

Guyana now utilises less than 20 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to service debt, from 94 per cent in 1992.

This increased confidence in the economy was confirmed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Their Inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Performance Index showed that Guyana had improved its ranking from a worrisome position of 58 during the period 1988 to 1990, to number 1 - the most attractive economy for FDI inflows, between the years 1993 to 1995. By 2001, Guyana remained the highest ranked Caribbean country, at number 17.