– Economic stability, a better quality of life the main thrust

THE 2010 National Budget is being framed in a manner that is reflective of the government’s consistent emphasis on particular developmental themes, such as the preservation of macro-economic stability and investing in the expansion of the country’s physical infrastructure.

This is according to Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh, during an exclusive interview late yesterday with the Guyana Chronicle at his Main Street office, Main Street, Georgetown.

Dr Singh said the reason a deliberate emphasis is being placed on expansion of the physical infrastructure is because of the important role it plays in not just enabling economic growth, but on improving the quality of life as well.

“This is one of the themes that have been a consistent feature of our Administration’s priorities,” he stressed.

Noting that the Administration has also consistently emphasised social programmes, he said that the 2010 Budget, being reflective of this, caters for the implementation of social programmes that are specifically aimed at benefitting, in a direct way, the people of Guyana.

Some of those programmes at reference, he said, are in the areas of education, health, housing and water, and that the Budget will, among other things, discuss at some length policy priorities such as the institutional environment.

On the subject of the Budget being prepared in a global-regional context that is still reflective of considerable uncertainty, Dr Singh said:

“Even if we might be past the global economic crisis, we’re certainly not out of the crisis completely, and the whole economic environment is still fraught with uncertainty, risk, and, at the very best, slow growth in some of the major economic capitals in the world.”

In addition to the budget being cast within this external context, Dr Singh said it will also be done in a domestic context, in the sense that it is essentially is reflective of the Country’s economic performance over the past year.

“That is a performance that indicates relative resilience. This mean
s that even if global effects have been transmitted into the domestic economy, they have done so in a manner that has not threatened macro-economic stability. In fact, we have been able to preserve such stability and continue to grow,” the Minister explained.

At his weekly post-Cabinet press conference on Friday, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon said this year’s Budget, to be presented to the National Assembly tomorrow, is ultimately intended to consolidate the successful trends of the 2009 budget, and aggressively pursue developmental goals in the context of the regional and international realities.

According to Dr Luncheon, the Budget would be an extension of the 2009 Budget, which was crafted and executed during the brunt of the global economic crisis. “The Administration’s initial assessment is that those policies and strategies employed in 2009 adequately cushioned the impact of the crisis on Guyana,” he said.

He observed that since 2009, Guyanese have been provided with some information about the details of this year’s budget, which will continue to focus on the macro-economy in terms of promoting its growth. He said there has been an increase in overall expenditure, and that much of the money would be dedicated to infrastructure and improvement in the delivery of goods and services.

“So, the increased expenditure would be accompanied by job creation and job security, and emphasis would also be on monitoring and evaluation,” he said, while pointing out that this forms part of the heightened attention the government has given to accountability and value for money.

Minister Singh will be delivering the budget speech tomorrow, and this would be his latest presentation since the commencement of the fourth term in office of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Administration.

The budget will be presented under the theme: ‘Consolidate, transform, sustain’.

Despite the many challenges posed by the global financial and economic crisis during last year, Guyana’s economy was able to weather the storm and record significant growth in several areas.

Government spending in the sectors has increased by leaps and bounds, resulting in continued development across the country’s ten Administrative Regions.

Minister Singh said in a statement recently that the Guyanese economy displayed a striking resilience last year despite depressed external demands and lower prices for certain key exports.

Last year’s record $128.9B National Budget presented to the National Assembly on February 9, under the theme ‘Working Together – Reinforcing Resilience’ was reflective of Government’s awareness of the threats posed by the existing global environment, and the need for strong and collective efforts at the national and individual levels.

Budget 2009 projected real growth of the non-sugar gross domestic product at 1.8 per cent, while overall growth was projected at 4.7 per cent, influenced strongly by the expected recovery of sugar.

The 2009 National Budget represented an 8.1 per cent increase over the previous year’s $119.3B budget and provided for the well-being of children and vulnerable groups with specific focus on continued efforts to safeguard Guyana’s children and vulnerable groups.

That Guyana has continuously recorded positive growth over the past few years, is attributed to increased spending in all sectors. In 2005, the government allocated $86.4B, while the national budget of 2006 was $102.9B. The 2007 budget was $100B, while the allocation for 2008 was $119.3B.

Guyana’s economy continues to withstand exogenous shocks recording positive growth due to the unstinting efforts of Government to create and maintain a stable macro economic environment to foster development of all sectors and facilitate a wider spread of projects across the country.

Despite the external conditions and local challenges such as those known to be confronting the sugar industry, the domestic economy is projected to continue to grow.

The non-sugar economy recorded positive growth, with expansion in output reflected across a broad base of sectors.

This result undoubtedly demonstrated early returns to Government’s efforts at diversification, with the strongest rates of growth achieved in non-traditional agriculture sub-sectors.