Chris Ram exposed to challenges on his publicly articulated postures

Dear Editor,

I am writing in reference to a letter published by Stabroek News on April 4, 2023, authored by Gary Girdhari. The author sought to staunchly defend Chris Ram and described him as an outstanding accountant and attorney. Indeed, it is an indisputable fact that Chris Ram is a well-regarded chartered accountant.

It is quite perplexing, however, to fathom why it is that the author found my very mild and brief description of C hris Ram as one who seeks ‘relevance from time to time’ offensive. This is not a description without merit and justification of him, and arguably so. In this regard, I wish to publicly endorse two letters that were published in the Guyana Chronicle of April 1, 2023, with the caption “Chris Ram has a chance to prove that he is not a fossil”, and on April 4, 2023, with the caption “Chris Ram’s questionable actions”

As a public commentator and advocate, Chris Ram is subject to be challenged because his analyses are not always impeccable. More so, since he is a longstanding, well regarded public commentator, he is societally obligated to defend, correct, or clarify his publicly articulated postures whenever he is so challenged. In doing so, this lends credibility to the individual. It is also a responsible thing to do.

I recalled reading a letter even by one his most respected colleagues or associates, Mr. Anand Goolsaran, who published a letter of apology in the Stabroek News for an inadvertent assertion he made in one of his columns. Chris Ram should learn from his respected colleague and take a page out of his book.

As a public commentator and analyst myself, I am also subject to the aforementioned. It can be publicly verified that I have been challenged by a few heavyweights, namely the likes of Rawle Lucas; former Finance Minister, Winston Jordan; Economics Professor, Kenrick Hunte, and Tom Sanzillo just to name a few, and all of whom I have rebutted; defended my positions and analyses.

It would be remiss of me not to highlight to the readers a few notable flaws I had identified in some of Chris Ram’s most recent analyses other than the foreign exchange matter which I have already dealt with pending his response.

In a virtual discussion panel, Christopher Ram cited an incorrect figure representing the fiscal deficit obtained in 2022 of $193 billion. To arrive at this figure, I suspect that he used the 11.8% fiscal deficit reported by the Minister in the budget speech and using the (2021) GDP of about US$8 billion to calculate that fiscal deficit which was incorrect.

Mr. Ram failed to observe that the fiscal deficit of 11.8% reported by the Minister is actually on the non-oil GDP figure for 2022 which stood at G$1.107 trillion, while the fiscal deficit relative to the overall GDP (2022) which stood at G$2.918 trillion is actually 4.52%, or $132 billion. This figure can be verified in the budget estimate (Vol.1). Additionally, the fiscal deficit