…in fiery start to 2012 budget debate
– says Guyana is on the right growth trajectory
THE much anticipated debate on the 2012 national budget got off to a heated start in the National Assembly yesterday with Shadow Finance Minister Carl Greenidge of the opposition PNC-led APNU sanctimoniously criticizing and prognosticating on the PPP/C administration’s management of the country’s economy, swiftly followed by a crushing rebuttal from government MP Irfaan Ali.
Ali, who is Minister of Housing and Water as well as acting Tourism Minister, passionately defended government’s programmes and policies as set out in the 2012 budget.
The budget debate began with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Shadow Finance Minister and MP, Carl Greenidge, making his presentation, during which he said that the economic and financial goals and targets pursued by the PPP Government, have increasingly been the object of criticism.
Greenidge said the Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh, in his budget, alluded to the pillars which he asserted are the foundation of PPP economic  policy; however, they do not, for the most part, conform to reality, and hoped that the budget would have addressed some of the more glaring needs of the country.
Greenidge also called  for a reformed public sector with increased wages and salaries.
Minister Ali, in lending his support to the $192.8 billion budget, which Dr. Singh presented two Friday’s ago under the theme, ‘Remaining on Course, United in Purpose, Prosperity for All’, said the Guyanese economy, today, is at its strongest in recent memory.  He also extended congratulations to Dr. Singh and his team at the Ministry of Finance, for piloting Guyana to successive economic growth and social development and advancement.
Ali said this budget comes at a time when Guyanese are celebrating 20 years since the triumphant return of democracy. “We must not forget that there was a period of dictatorship in this country,” Ali said, pointing out that this budget was framed and formed under democratic rule.
He reminded the House that Mr. Greenidge had been in charge of the Ministry of Finance for a long period in the history of this country, and that period is often referred to as the ‘lost decade’.
“The success of the fiscal porgrammes that we are here today to present in this budget seeks not only to consolidate the policy gains but also advance the social and economic programmes which were initiated when we assume office in 1992,” Ali said.
He noted that achieving the various national priorities are set out in the various development paradigms such as the National Development Strategy, National Competitiveness Strategy and the Low Carbon Development Strategy.
“The question that faces us today is, ‘should we continue on this course?’ This course that has seen Guyana withstanding the difficulties of the global financial situation, that has seen Guyana successfully  overcoming a lot of the challenges that the financial crisis posed or do we fall prey to wishful polices that seek to score cheap political points,” he posed.
Alluding to the fact that the government has been continuously improving  salaries and benefits to public servants,  Ali said: “But when the Honourable Member Carl Greenidge says that we can increase salaries to public servants by 20 percent he does not go on to give the analytical reasoning as to how this can be done and what are the implications of this”.
Ali said, “Dr. Ashni Singh has not only presented realistic numbers but he has given the implications of such numbers on the life and economy of the country.”
Greenidge, in his presentation, had said that at the last count, the top 20 percent of income earners in Guyana accounted for 47 – 60 percent of income whilst the bottom 20 percent accounted for less than seven percent.
Replying to this, Ali said, “…this is what we have been saying, he has proven the point that there is a growing middle-class in the country and furthermore, the seven percent that he talk about is not a number that has been plucked out.”
“We must not forget that we came into government when 38 percent of our people were below the poverty line. These are the realities, these are the facts,” the minister declared.
He recalled that the post-colonial growth story of Guyana prior to 1992 has been “one of decline and stagnation”, and noted that when the People’s National Congress (PNC) grabbed government, the country had one of the strongest economies and that government “brought us down in 1991 to one of the weakest and sluggish economies in the western hemisphere”.
“This is the reality,” Ali declared.
According to him, this is why the historical context is so important.
“…and that is why the Guyanese people must understand the gains we have made; the accomplishments that we have made; the strength of the economy today can easily be washed away with bad planning, bad policies, and mismanagement – and we must never allow this country to ever again fall into the hand of dictatorship that will allow mismanagement and bad policies to erode the economic progress that we have made,” he said.
He said the country recorded negative growth for five of the 10 years during the decade that Greenidge was Minister of Finance, and average GDP growth between 1981 and 1990 was -2.2 percent.
Alluding to transparency and accountability, he lashed out, “The Opposition would want us to believe that they come from the bosom of transparency and accountability (but) this government has no apologies for investing any resource that will bring benefit to our people and improve their equity and asset position.”
He said too, that the $4B that was invested in the housing sector was done to “improve the living conditions, the housing conditions and the equity position of the people of this country”.
Greenidge, in opening the debate,  said the economic and financial goals and targets pursued by the PPP government, under former President Bharrat Jagdeo, have increasingly been the objects of criticism because “they have been characterised by growth without employment, growing income disparities, and the related and contentious issues of corruption and abuse of power”.
However, Ali  dismissed this criticism, pointing to the fact that since 2006 Real GDP growth has been strong and positive and, in the context of deep and widespread economic contraction across the Caribbean economies, “Guyana’s performance may be regarded as remarkable”.
Ali reminded the House that Guyana’s laudable and remarkable economic performance has been hailed and recognised by many regional and international leaders, one example being the Honourable Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, who described Guyana as the “only shining light in all of the Caribbean”.
“Today, as Guyanese, we can proudly say we are living under better conditions, our standard of living has improved, our access to resources has improved and wealth at the household and the individual level has improved drastically,” he said.
While agreeing that there is a lot more to be done, Minister Ali said the recommendations  and suggestions by Greenidge, if followed by government, would certainly not allow or cause a  widening or expansion of the country’s social programme.
Greenidge, in his presentation, had noted that the international community has ranked Guyana unfavourable under the Indices of Economic Freedom.
But Ali responded, noting that when Greenidge uses the Heritage Foundation Index on Economic Forum to judge the government, he is making a fundamental mistake since the Heritage Foundation scores a government that has a huge social programme poorly. He also explained that if a country has  a big budget on the social side, the Foundation would score that country poorly.”
“So, on one hand you cannot ask the government to improve access to expand the social safety net and to expand social infrastructure and then you are using the tool that will require the government to reduce such investment to judge the government. That is double standard (and) that is hypocrisy,” Ali declared.
He said over the past five years, the domestic financial sector has also played an important role in extending credit to the local private sector “due to easy monetary policy stands of the Central Bank” and the banking system is also sound.
Ali also pointed out that Guyana has accomplished a number of targets in its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including nutrition and child health.
“Based on the result of government programmes over the last six years, there should be no reason for changing course at this juncture of our history. Instead, we should continue to pursue the programmes and polices as set out in the 2012 budget,” he said, noting that this is in order to achieve the national priorities that it seeks to achieve including  creation of jobs; provision  of housing or shelter for all, especially the poor and vulnerable; transformation of the economic base so that the economy is more resilient to external shocks;  improve competitiveness of the economy; improvement of human capital; delivery of better quality social services; strengthening of national institutions responsible for safety, security and justice; promotion of positive and stable economic growth; creation of a friendly business environment; maintaining fiscal prudence; and protection of our environment.
Alluding to old age pension, Minister Ali said whilst the PPP/C government has increased old age pension by more than 700 percent, it is still not satisfied, but the members on the government side of the House “must balance political ambition with prudence”.
He also alluded to different programmes such as the One Laptop Per Family programme, national and hinterland school feeding programmes, and  the LCDS.
“Guyana is on the right trajectory. We have the perfect balance with growth and development; we have the right policies – all it takes now is the political will and that political  must see a mature political opposition,” Ali maintained.
Several other speakers from both sides of the House joined the debate yesterday which lasted late into last night. (see other stories in tomorrow’s edition)