–Dr. Singh says ‘relief initiatives’ to continue; medium, long-term plans to be announced
By Navendra Seoraj
PLANS to further stabilise the local economy, and drive growth and development through new and existing initiatives are expected to be outlined on Friday, when Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, tables Budget 2021 in the National Assembly.
The 2020 budget, though more of an emergency intervention which was instituted amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and after a protracted electoral process, brought immediate relief to Guyanese through initiatives which are expected to continue, Dr. Singh said during a recent interview which was shared with the Guyana Chronicle.
“We expect that the 2021 Budget will continue to deliver on the wide range of promises, commitments and undertakings included in our manifesto. We consider it [manifesto] to be our contract with the people, and it is on this basis we were elected… it is our intention to deliver.
“The 2020 budget started to deliver on many promises [manifesto] and contained a number of emergency measures aimed at bringing immediate relief to the people,” Dr. Singh reasoned.
Most of those initiatives will feature again in Budget 2021 and be supplemented by other initiatives which are aimed at not only providing relief, but also at contributing, on a larger scale, to greater economic advancements.
The budget, which will be presented on Friday, will be the new People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government’s first full budget, so it will outline, in broader terms, the party’s medium and long term plans for the country.
President Ali has said already that Guyana is on course to prosperity, with a diverse economy which is yet to reach its peak.
“Our economic prospects have never been brighter. Our collective feet are firmly placed on the first rungs of a ladder to prosperity that is clearly within our sight,” President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, said during his address to the nation on January 1, 2021.
SPRINGBOARD
The year 2021, according to the President, will be the springboard from which Guyana will leap into recovery, rebuilding the economy, enhancing the people’s health and lifting up the vulnerable groups in society.
“We must not remain a rich country of poor people,” the President affirmed, noting that the bounty of Guyana must be shared across the population.
This country having received payment of US$49.3 million for its fourth oil lift, has ended the year on a high note with approximately US$200 million being generated so far from the country’s nascent oil and gas sector.
Considering the country’s oil revenue and other lucrative sources of income, the President believes that the standard of living and the quality of life must be lifted for all. “Work will be rewarded; hard work will be rewarded even more,” he said.
“Opportunities will be created to join in such work, and they will be made available to all. I recognise that there are communities within our society which, because of disadvantages of geographic location, will need more help than others to join our national advance,” President Ali reasoned.
The country will have to identify those communities, assess their needs, identify solutions, and implement plans to change their circumstances. This change will not occur overnight, it will take time. But every journey begins with a first step, the President said.
Engagement with stakeholders was a critical aspect of the preparations for budget 2021, Dr. Singh said.
WIDE CONSULTATION
“There was a wide range of consultations, most recently with persons from labour and the private sector… consultations are ongoing, but we received good suggestions from those gathered, many on issues which would impact the budget…,” the senior minister said.
Prior to the Government’s engagement with those stakeholders, President Ali had convened a meeting with members of various political parties at State House. According to Dr. Singh, those persons present at that meeting provided ‘valuable’ suggestions which aided in the crafting of the budget.
Although a lot of work has already gone into the preparation of this budget, Dr. Singh said the Government will, over the next few days, be proceeding in “intense fashion” to finalise it.
The country, prior to the passage of the Emergency 2020 Budget, went more than eight months without a national budget because of a protracted electoral process, which ended on August 2, 2020.
The prolonged process had restricted the country from having a budget and, by extension, a clear plan for 2020. This was something the government worked on rectifying in just about 21 days after being sworn in.
Crafting a national budget usually takes 179 days; however, extraordinary circumstances forced the Government to condense the process and present one in 21 days. A $329.5 billion Emergency Budget was cleared by the National Assembly on September 25, 2020.
This budget includes a $25,000 cash transfer to every household; a $15,000 cash grant and a $4,000 uniform voucher for schoolchildren; $800 million for the Amerindian Development Fund; $5 billion for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo); a two-week, tax-free bonus for members of the Joint Services; and $150 million for frontline workers, among many other benefits.
President Ali had also said that the Government, after re-prioritising and re-programming fiscal measures, has managed to add $20 billion in relief to the “pockets” of Guyanese at a time when the nation is faced with the effects of COVID-19, and the recently concluded protracted electoral process. The conduits of relief include revised tax measures and sweeping incentives.
The broad objectives of those measures which feature in Government’s emergency budget are to stimulate economic activity; get persons back to work; increase Guyana’s productive capacity; reduce the cost of doing business; improve efficiency; and facilitate growth and development of businesses.
