Since the change of government, the economy has seen a plummet in growth rate figures. It now ranges between 2.6 percent to 3.2 percent. According to Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, this is as a result of the government’s no-nonsense approach to money laundering and other forms of corruption.
In fact, Jordan said that the present state of Guyana’s economy is proof that it was supported, in part, by the illegal narcotics trade. He made this pellucid today at a press briefing by Finance Minister Winston Jordan, prior to the 98th sitting of the National Assembly.
His comments, in this regard, would come after the Private Sector Commission had challenged him to provide evidence that the economy was propped up by the operations of money launderers.
While Jordan gave no names of the entities he was referring to, he did remind at the press conference, that some years ago, the Opposition’s Chief Whip Gail Teixeira, then a serving Home Affairs Minister, voiced her own concerns about the influx of the drug trade and remarked that she took a decision not to shop at certain businesses suspected to funded by ill-gotten gains.
Reiterating that a significant section of the economy was supported by those in the illegal drug trade, Minister Jordan said, “Who the cap fits let them wear it!”
Jordan said that the capture and pending extradition to the United States of a popular local businessman and hotelier is the tip of the Iceberg. He said that more indictments are expected to follow soon.
