Guyanese businesspeople generally believe that economic conditions in the country are worse than they were six months ago, according to the findings of the first Business Confidence Survey conducted by the Economic Policy Unit (EPU) of the Private Sector Commission (PSC).
A PSC press release yesterday said that “a very high proportion of survey respondents described current conditions as worse than half a year ago.”
However, the release noted, not all respondents were negative regarding conditions over the same period within their own industrial sector.
Responding to a specific question concerning taxation, the release said, the majority of participants indicated that consumption taxes have had the most detrimental effect on business.
According to the release, the EPU’s chief economist, Don McIver said the mood looking forward was a little more optimistic, with some survey participants believing that conditions in their industries and in the country overall will be better six months from now, although that result serves only to temper the generally negative sentiment.
The EPU, the release informed, plans to conduct the survey on a monthly basis and is making an effort to canvas a wide spectrum of Guyanese businesses.
And in future, survey results will be collated in the form of a Business Conditions Index that will allow analysts to monitor month-to-month changes in the way Guyanese view economic circumstances, the release added.