–Private Sector representatives say

REPRESENTATIVES of various private sector bodies in Guyana have noted that they expect to see the continued development and growth of the country through measures that will be included in Budget 2024, which will be unveiled today.

This was disclosed during an airing of ‘Outlook: Budget 2024’ on the National Communications Network (NCN) where former Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Paul Cheong, Financial Analyst Joel Bhagwandin, and President of the Guyana Manufacturing & Services Association (GMSA) Ramsay Ali spoke on their expectations.

Cheong stated that this administration has set a pattern in past budgets of focussing on development, and he expects this to continue.

“The pattern has been set, and we expect to continue in the same vein; continue developing the infrastructure, continue to invest in health and agriculture,” he said.

Further, he indicated that they also expect to see some relief measures announced in the budget for businesses, as has been done in the past.

Additionally, Cheong stated that while they are looking forward to this, the trend is there, and they expect growth to continue while seeing businesses flourish, expand and develop.

Meanwhile, Bhagwandin stated that budgets must be balanced, and should be one for the people, which also builds a country.

He said: “The goal is to build a country; ensure that there is sustainability, ensure that there is prosperity, and that there is opportunity.”

As was done in past budgets, Bhagwandin said that he is certain that the solid ratio of the budget, which ensures that 70 per cent caters for investments in projects which is meant to sustain future growth and 30 per cent caters for expanded social services, will be maintained again.

“Using the 2012 census, you have about 70 per cent of the population who are within the age range of 40 and below 40. That means you have a young population; that means you have to build a future for this 70 per cent of the population,” he noted.

He went on to say: “The other 30 per cent of the population are those who would need social welfare services; the pensioners and so on. If you look, and I did this in 2023, if you take and disaggregate the budget based on that, look at all the investments on capital projects, investments that are meant to sustain future growth and those in social, that are expended on social services, the ratio of the budget is 70:30.”

Meanwhile, Ali noted that he expects and would like to see the continued support of the government for businesses, more specifically small businesses, as, he noted, small businesses are very important for the development of any country.

“Small businesses are very important for the development of any country; many of the metropolises of the world were built on small business, and history has proven that. This government has shown that there is good or increased recognition of small business,” Ali remarked.

To this end, he indicated that they had sent a detailed submission to the Finance Minister’s office, which was received and some amount of discussion was had.

He said that more attention should be paid to the small businesses to see where they are in terms of their level and scale, so it can be known how they can be supported in simple things like attending trade fairs overseas.

“So, I would like to see the continuation; the government has been doing that… so we asked them you know if they can keep the support, or even increase that kind of thing,” the GMSA president iterated.

Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh will be presenting Budget 2024 to the National Assembly at 14:00 hrs today.