THE budget debate on the 2023 budget estimates presented by Senior Minister with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, has commenced and from all indications, members from both sides of the House are passionately trying their best to argue their case one way or the other.

Without any doubt, this year’s budget of $781.9 billion is by far the biggest from the standpoint of the financial envelope available to the government. It is 41.4 per cent bigger than that allocated in Budget 2022 and the most comprehensive in terms of infrastructural and human development.

Of significance to note is the fact that the government plans to finance this budget without implementing any new taxes.

Given all the positives contained in the budget, it will not be an easy task for the opposition side of the House to come up with any credible or substantial arguments to debunk what is clearly a forward-looking budget, one that is geared to further enhance the standard of living of the Guyanese people while at the same time consolidating the macro-economic framework for sustainable growth and development.

Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton who was the first speaker for the PPP/C Government, wasted no time in hammering the opposition for lacking the “political and intellectual capacity” to come up with a budget of comparable stature as presented by Minister Singh.

And this is no idle boast. As pointed out by Minister Hamilton, the previous APNU+AFC had demonstrated during its tenure in office, a woeful lack of capacity to put together a people-oriented, comprehensive and developmental budget to bring any form of relief to the Guyanese people, especially the more vulnerable in our society.

It will be recalled that under the Granger administration, several measures were taken to reverse poverty-alleviation measures which were implemented by earlier PPP/C administrations such as subsidies for water and electricity for pensioners.

Instead, the regime imposed unconscionable value-added taxes (VAT) on these items including VAT on tuition fees for students attending private secondary schools.

Several taxes on basic food items which were zero-rated or altogether removed by the PPP/C administration were re-imposed by the then Granger administration.

The “Because We Care Programme” initiated by the PPP/C administration were unceremoniously dumped and many hard-pressed parents were left to provide for their children’s education on their own devices.

Not to mention the thousands of persons whose jobs and livelihoods were abruptly terminated by the previous administration mainly out of political or ethnic considerations.

All of those vindictive measures were remedied in this and previous budgetary measures and more is being done to bring further relief such as salary increases to public servants, increasing the income-tax threshold and increases in old-age pension to name but a few.

In addition, significant sums of money has been allocated for housing, water and the delivery of basic services such as education and health.

The budget, for all practical purposes is pro-people and pro-developmental with the objective of further enhancing the working and living condition of the Guyanese people.

Given such a scenario, the opposition Members of Parliament will be hard put to advance any substantial arguments and, as pointed out by Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy, the APNU and AFC are now resorting to all manner of misinformation, distortions, half-truths and in some cases, outright lies in an attempt to score cheap political points.

Facts, however, are stubborn things as the members on the opposition are finding out much to their chagrin.

This year’s budgetary allocation will serve to further accelerate the growth momentum of the Guyana economy which saw an overall growth rate of 62.3 per cent with the non-oil economy showing a growth rate of 11.6 per cent. Guyana is clearly along the path of improving lives and building prosperity for which the PPP/C administration must be commended.