The presentation of budget 2012 was made by Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh two Fridays ago, in the National Assembly, under the theme ‘Remaining on Course, United in Purpose, Prosperity for All’ and it was the largest budget in the country’s history, totalling $192.8 billion.
During the Wednesday session, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament, Volda Lawrence, said that, given the laying of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper(PRSP) 2011-2015 in the House last August, one would have thought that the government’s agenda would have clearly embraced it.
“The non-reference to this document in this 2012 budget presentation is rather surprising,” she said, suggesting: “The reality is that the Finance Minister’s budget has little or no sound provision to fulfil those objectives.”
Lawrence said no mention had been made of three of four pillars, including good governance, improved social services, and special intervention strategies for vulnerable populations.
Alluding to the positive growth in Guyana, she said the minister did not indicate how it will impact on the realisation of its strategy and she expected to see the government address, in a comprehensive manner, the seven pillars set out for the economic and social transformation of the nation.
Lawrence said, with the increased growth, there was the expectation of some new measures to address the way additional income was distributed and government would have sought to reduce the high degree of inequality in the distribution of income, thereby “setting Guyana on the way to attaining rapid reduction in the number of persons living in poverty.”
She referred to the view of the budget being “anti-poor, anti-ordinary citizen and anti-vulnerable group”.

But apparently all the opposition members who have decried the budget as not addressing the needs of the poor are challenged in many ways, because the budget, as have all PPP/C budgets since 1993, has been formulated with the PRSP 2011-2015 as an integral component.  All the requisite groundwork has been laid and the nation has been progressively climbing on its developmental trajectory, with the administration’s annual budget being its primary working tool.
Governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament and Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud, in his presentation during the budget debate 2012, said the budget will certainly take the country forward and provide opportunities for the people.
Persaud said, “Also looking in terms of modernising and transforming the traditional sectors of our economy, also creating new opportunities and opening, as it were, new economic growth poles in our society, and an important thrust of the 2012 budget has been creating and enhancing a society in which we see much more compassion, providing opportunities for all our people,” he said.
He said, “If we look in terms of constructing this society, I am sure all of us would agree that it is still a work in progress; but to create the impression that we have not made that effort, and have not made considerable achievements, I think would be far from the reality.

Even members of the wider public acknowledge the efforts of the government, and one letter-writer wrote: “From its genesis, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has always championed the cause of the working class; it is even argued that the PPP evolved from the womb of the working class. It is therefore within this framework that successive PPP/C Governments, from 1992, have been taking necessary and practical measures at governmental and other levels, in the best interest of workers of Guyana. Some of these measures include regular wage increases on an annual basis; schemes for affordable housing throughout the nation; smothering of escalating fuel prices to keep down the cost of living; improvements in social services and the utilities; and overall improvements in health care and medical services.
One can just return to the devastating global fuel and food crises of 2008/2009 and analyze how Guyana was able to ensure that its macroeconomic fundamentals remained intact.The inflation rate for 2008 was 6.40% which was lower than the 14.05% rate in 2007. With increased trade, the total transactions on the foreign exchange market continued to grow and the key monetary aggregates grew with increased economic activity.
Because of the global food and fuel crises, food prices in Guyana increased by 27.2% last year; and the government moved to cushion the effects of such a scenario by increasing the tax threshold by 25% from $28,000 to $35,000 per month, and for some time now removed the value added tax (VAT) from a number of items.
In 2009, low-income public servants were offered a monthly stimulus package which included a 5% increase in wages and salaries, and the $4000 temporary cost-of-living adjustment for persons earning below $50,000.
Fast forward to the 2012 budget and we see once again that this budget was primarily crafted with the working class in mind, taking into consideration a holistic outlook and matching measures with economic realities. For example, the income tax Threshold has been increased by 20% which means 21,000 more Guyanese will no longer pay this tax.

Today, the need for some patriotism, commitment and cooperation by the people is necessary to sustain our country’s economic achievements. And so, it is evident from the above, that efforts are being made to maintain a good macroeconomic environment and to ensure that Guyana’s economic and social development continues to propel upwards. Having said that, it is necessary that we, as a nation, ensure that our successes are not sacrificed at the altar of insular politics that we see being currently played out by the combined opposition. Guyana has come a long way from 1992 and we will continue in this vein.
This country needs political maturity to consolidate  the gains made by this current government, and what is playing out in the National Assembly is a game of one-upmanship, typical of schoolboys.
However, it is the people of this country who are being held to ransom when the opposition holds the government’s developmental programmes in the gridlock of opportunistic politics.
Volda Lawrence and the opposition collective have obviously not studied the budget before making their pronouncements.  They need to regroup, re-orient the direction of their objectives, and join with the government’s efforts to develop this nation for the benefit of all.