GUYANA FINANCE MINISTER OPTIMISTIC BUT SEEKS HELP
Guyana hopes to overcome its financial
problems within three to five years and is now seeking help
from donor governments, Finance Minister Carl Greenidge said.
    He said Guyana took its problems in January to the
Caribbean Group for Cooperation and Development, which includes
governments and multilateral agencies, with a view to finding a
long-term recovery plan.
    Guyana's arrears to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
are now 70 mln dlrs and it would not be eligible for new loans
in the near future, Greenidge told Reuters during the
Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) annual meeting here. MORE
    Greenidge also said a World Bank mission would visit
Georgetown this week to assess prospects for a rescue plan that
would enable Guyana to revive its economy. But he said the
government does not expect to be able to reduce its arrears
this year.
    Arrears to the IMF and the World Bank are projected to rise
to 100 mln dlrs by the end of 1987. About 90 mln dlrs of this,
equivalent to nearly half Guyana's annual exports, would be
owed to the IMF.
    "Expecting us to pay arrears is like asking a dying man to
give a pint of blood," Greenidge said.
    But Greenidge said Guyana has taken steps to reduce its
fiscal deficit, which now amounts to 65 pct of GDP. It has
increased taxes, reduced public expenditure and refinanced its
internal debt.
    He said the World Bank would meanwhile look at investment
requirements for potential export-earning projects such as gold
mining, timber, oil and kaolin.
    Because of its arrears, Guyana has been unable to draw down
a 40 mln dlr World Bank loan for a bauxite industry
rehabilitation project. Bauxite accounts for 90 mln dlrs of
exports, or 40 pct of the total.
 REUTER
