…says billions in spending and 33.3% growth demand more than statistics
(Kaieteur News) – Chartered accountant Christopher Ram has launched a broadside at the Government’s 2026 Mid-Year Report, arguing that the document falls short of its purpose as an instrument of economic and financial accountability.
In the third and final instalment of his examination of the report, Ram said it contains an abundance of economic statistics and expenditure figures but fails to adequately explain the relationships between them, confront emerging risks or show how headline economic growth is affecting households and businesses.
Ram’s latest criticism comes after he previously questioned the report’s treatment of housing figures and its omission of the Government’s at least $400 million transaction involving the Berbice Bridge Company Inc.
Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram
Growth without enough explanation
Ram focused on the report’s headline growth figures, noting that real GDP expanded by 33.3 per cent during the first half of 2026, while non-oil growth stood at 10.1 per cent.
The figures compare with full-year projections of 20.8 per cent and 10.2 per cent respectively.
According to Ram, the numbers raise questions that the Mid-Year Report should have addressed.
He noted that overall growth is projected to slow substantially during the second half of the year, while non-oil growth is expected to remain almost unchanged.
“There may be sound technical explanations,” Ram said, arguing that “that is precisely what the Report should provide.”
He also pointed to Government capital expenditure approaching $250 billion during the first half of the year, alongside strong growth in construction.
Ram questioned how much of the reported non-oil growth is genuinely independent of the petroleum sector and how much is being generated indirectly through oil-funded Government expenditure.
He said the issue is important if diversification is to mean more than converting petroleum revenues into construction, contracts and consumption.
With the Budget framed around “Putting People First,” Ram argued that the report should provide greater clarity on how the country’s rapid economic growth is translating into the lived experience of households and businesses.
Foreign exchange concerns
Ram also highlighted developments in the foreign-exchange market, which he described as another area the Mid-Year Report failed to adequately confront.
Days after the report was released, President Irfaan Ali disclosed that outstanding foreign-currency demand at commercial banks had exceeded US$200 million and brought former Finance Minister Asgar Ally into discussions aimed at examining the market.
Ram questioned why such an issue was not adequately addressed in the Mid-Year Report.
He said a country experiencing exceptional GDP growth, substantial oil exports and significant foreign inflows should not have businesses struggling to access foreign currency without a clear explanation from the Finance Minister.
Ram also questioned why, after almost six years with Singh back in the Finance portfolio, a former Finance Minister was needed to help examine the problem.
“What is driving the demand? Is it temporary or structural?” Ram asked, arguing that these were matters the Mid-Year Report should have addressed rather than issues emerging after its publication through presidential intervention.
Census delay raises planning questions
Ram also criticised the continued delay in producing the full results of the 2022 Population and Housing Census.
Census Day was in September 2022, but only preliminary results were released in January 2026, with detailed information needed for planning still unavailable, he noted.
He argued that this is significant because Government is making decisions concerning migration, social services, policing, housing, schools, hospitals and labour supply.
The issue, Ram said, becomes more pressing because the Mid-Year Report itself identifies a shift in the national challenge from job creation to the availability and composition of skills.
“How can Government plan confidently for labour, population and allocation of resources when its principal demographic exercise remains incomplete?” he asked.
Ram also questioned why Singh, whose portfolio includes the Bureau of Statistics, has not done more to ensure completion of the census exercise.
Ram targets tax policy
Taxation was another major area of concern for Ram, who argued that Guyana’s transformation into a petroleum-producing economy should have triggered a fundamental reassessment of the country’s tax system.
He said the expansion of oil revenues should have prompted Government to reconsider which taxes remain necessary, how the tax burden should be distributed, which exemptions and concessions remain justified and how much recurrent expenditure can safely depend on petroleum revenues.
Ram pointed to the Duke study, commissioned under a previous PPP/C administration, which he said identified structural weaknesses in the tax system but was largely left unimplemented.
He also noted that the subsequent Coalition Government established its own Tax Reform Committee and sought to implement elements of that agenda.
According to Ram, the PPP/C criticised several of those measures without presenting a comprehensive alternative.
He argued that Singh can no longer treat the weaknesses as inherited problems, given his lengthy periods in charge of the Finance Ministry before and during the oil era.
Ram also raised concerns about the statutory tax appeal system, questioning the failure to keep the relevant Boards of Review continuously operational.
He said there have been periods exceeding a year when the Boards were either not in existence or not functioning.
According to Ram, such a situation denies taxpayers timely independent review while leaving the State’s revenue claims unresolved.
He argued that annual adjustments to tax thresholds, rates, exemptions, VAT, corporation tax and property tax do not amount to comprehensive tax reform.
“Nor can oil revenues disguise the absence of policy,” Ram wrote.
He said Singh should explain the future role of taxation and how Guyana intends to manage its dependence on petroleum revenues.
“He has not done so,” Ram concluded.
‘Too little analysis’
In his overall assessment, Ram said the shortcomings identified in the Mid-Year Report go beyond individual figures or omissions.
He questioned the quality of the report as an instrument of economic and financial accountability.
According to Ram, the document contains substantial statistics and expenditure totals but provides too little analysis of their meaning, insufficient treatment of important risks and inadequate connections between aggregate economic growth and the experiences of citizens and businesses.
He pointed to Section 67 of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act, which requires the report to inform Parliament and the public about the macroeconomic and fiscal position, the outlook, significant variances and major fiscal risks.
Ram argued that, measured against that purpose, the report is “disappointing at best.”
He said it contains what he described as “too many features of an amateur exercise”—including impressive numbers without sufficient explanation, important economic relationships left unexplored, major weaknesses inadequately confronted and, in the case of the Berbice Bridge transaction, critical information omitted.
Ram said that after years of responsibility for the Finance portfolio, the shortcomings cannot simply be attributed to inexperience.
He argued that Singh must accept direct responsibility for the weaknesses he identified.
Source: Kaieteur News
