NATIONAL budgets, no matter how well thought out, are always going to be the subject of ceaseless debates anywhere, inclusive of Guyana. This is because of the various expectations from the many interest groups that each covets some benefit.
But its crafting  is not a simple exercise, as the political opposition parties in Guyana, believe;  nor is it a process where numbers are pulled out from a magician’s hat! For all their so-called expert advice on the local economy, both  A Party For National Unity(APNU) and the Alliance For Change(AFC) have failed in their understanding that a balanced budget has to take holistic cognizance of the state of play with regard to the particular state’s socio-economic needs, ensuring that its thrusts are economically viable and sustainable, yielding objective results for its beneficiaries – the people. And this is precisely what the PPP/C government has done since its re-election to office. In fact, one may also proffer that a realistic budget is one that offers great opportunities for commerce and business investment, with government as the facilitator, that will redound to the benefit of the state and citizens in general; and of creating social programmes that will advance and protect the livelihoods of the other groups.
Since 1993, Guyanese have been fortunate to be the recipients of budgetary allocations that can be described as people-centred. Given the virtual dismal state of the existing economy on to 1992, it was a gargantuan challenge of epic proportions for the newly elected PPP/C government to realise a financial blueprint that would gradually restore the dignity and honour of the nation and its peoples.
Objective scrutiny will explain that allocations were crafted with the aim of resuscitating and repairing a state which socio-economic infrastructure had been obliterated, and primitive where still existing; installing  measures that restored the  confidence of the private sector in Guyana as a place for business and commercial investments; removing obstacles in the way of the main productive sectors; affording the nation’s workers a decent, livable wage,  while at the same time effecting a series of  intervention programmes that will protect them from the constant threat of poverty.
Fast forward to the beginning of the new millennium, and one would have begun to observe the qualitative changes that were noticeable throughout Guyana, results of astute planning of our economy. The Hinterland Development programmes, for example, offer a magnificent indicator of the significance of government’s numerous life-changing interventions.
Whereas, prior to 1992, the presence of Amerindians as meaningful participants in the productive centres of national life  had been negligible, they are now gradually being integrated into the mainstream of Guyanese society, after decades of cruel neglect and exploitation . Growing numbers are now present in every sector of development; and influencing this sea of change has been the Hinterland Scholarship Programme. Better state financed and supported, this flagship has been preparing Amerindians for the professions and other contributory skills. There are now Amerindian doctors, nurses, pharmacists, agriculturalists, IT specialists, graduate teachers, headmasters, with many more on scholarships in Cuba, the University of Guyana, and other allied institutions of learning.
It must be emphasised that the Hinterland Development Programmes, at a cost of billions of dollars, are interventions which target Amerindian socio-economic development, with the ultimate aim of making communities economically self-sufficient that can sustain the well-being of their citizens. Beginning with health, there  has been refurbishment of hospitals and health centres,  the building of new hospitals and health centres, where none had been in prior existence; education, with the construction of many schools and supportive dormitory  facilities in Amerindian communities. This particular initiative is supported by a school feeding, and free distribution of uniforms programme. Most Amerindian villages now boast modern methods of water access and storage that allow for potable water, compliments of a Guyana Water Incorporated multi-million dollar Hinterland Water Strategy.  
One can continue the outline of voluminous, qualitative socio-economic changes, results of budgets promulgated since the advent of the PPP/C government, that have brought immense benefits to the people of this nation, irrespective of party affiliation and ethnicity. The visionary housing programme stands as a shining example of inclusivity of all the peoples of Guyana.

For a country where  indiscriminate squatting had  dotted the general coastland, from 1993 the PPP/C government launched the grand national initiative of housing every  Guyanese, and over 90% of these irregular areas have now been transformed into modern housing schemes, with some of the most modern architecture  seen anywhere in Guyana. This strategy is evidence that  government is effecting an accessible land-owning programme, negotiating with lending institutions for low-rate housing mortgages, and fast-track measures for deeds and titles. These measures have resulted in tens of thousands of Guyanese of all social classes, becoming proud home-owners, thereby adding to their economic well-being. But that is not the end of the housing drive; for the 2013 budget has now made it possible for home-owners with mortgages up to $30M, to be able to deduct the interest paid on such loans from their taxable incomes. Not even the opposition would have expected such a relief!  
 The budget for 2013, which highlights continuation to build the socio-economic infrastructure of the nation for its ongoing transformation, will also be offering programmes designed for the further advancement of the individual well-being.
The parliamentary opposition must be guided by this incontrovertible fact, one of many, when it commences its response to the budget in the National Assembly.