–President Ali says while announcing billions of dollars in additional cost-of-living measures
–Guyanese to benefit from $200,000 one-off cash grant, see reduction in electricity cost, improvement in healthcare and public service wages

HONOURING an oath to ensure that Guyanese enjoy a better standard of living, President Dr. Irfaan Ali on Thursday unveiled a slew of measures geared at addressing the rising cost of living.

The Head of State, in an extensive address at a special sitting of the National Assembly held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), Liliendaal, revealed that Guyanese will instantaneously benefit from a $200,000 one-off cash grant.

This accumulates to a $60 billion investment of disposable income that would be placed into the pockets of citizens.

“This is how the resources and revenues of this country is being spent every single day; to uplift the lives of people, to expand national wealth, to expand personal wealth, to expand community wealth. This is what the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic government is all about,” the Head of State said.

These measures, he noted, are real policies and actions taken by the government to bring relief to citizens.

“We don’t demonstrate our love and commitment to people by noise; we demonstrate our love and commitment to people by real action; real policy, real intervention,” he added.

While comparing the PPP/C administration’s deliverables to that of the former A Partnership for National Unity+ Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government, Dr. Ali stated that the coalition administration was only characterised by promises.

He further revealed that in addition to the increases awarded to the public sector workforce, by the end of 2025 no public sector employee would be working for less than $100,000 per month.
This, the President further detailed, will see the disposable income for these employees increasing by more than $1 billion.

“This is how we build prosperity; this is how we reduce disparity, and how we build equity in the system,” he said.

GUYANA TO LEAD CARIBBEAN’S POULTRY PRODUCTION

And, shifting his attention to the agriculture sector, President Ali noted that Guyana has set its sights on becoming the Caribbean’s lead producer in the poultry industry.

He highlighted the government’s push to solidify Guyana as the prime agriculture hub, pointing to the government’s strategic policies and investments to achieve many food production targets.

“Agriculture is one component of the food ecosystem that we are developing. The food ecosystem is a much wider, complex undertaking that includes financing for agriculture, insurance for agriculture, issues of climate change; it’s about bringing together all the factors to ensure a viable food production,” President Ali said.

To achieve this, President Ali believes that focus must be placed on standard certification, infrastructure, subsidies, transport, technology, and research and development.

To this end, he announced that in the new fiscal year, the government will introduce new rules for the poultry industry. These include the acceleration of capital investments by farmers, reducing costs and incentivising growth.

The government, he noted, restored agriculture and food production as a major centrepiece of the country’s non-oil economy.

UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE VOUCHER FOR CHILDREN

In terms of healthcare, Dr. Ali pointed out that the government is investing in the development of a healthcare system that would rank among the best, globally, delivering affordable and accessible healthcare.

According to the president, there will be 1,326 new beds, covering every region.
By 2030, the construction of a new Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) will also be completed.

However, for instantaneous support, the government will make available a $10,000 universal healthcare voucher to every child, nationwide, so as to help pay for a basic range of tests aimed at identifying and potentially preventing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as early as possible.

This endeavour is aimed at funding a basic range of tests that will assist the nation in establishing baseline data required to identify preventive measures that can be adopted to avoid NCDs.

“This universal health voucher will help us as we work to build a healthy, strong and resilient population,” President Ali said.

ELECTRICTY COST TO BE SLASHED BY 50 PER CENT

While addressing sustainable delivery of electricity in Guyana, the Head of State revealed that the cost of electricity will be cut by 50 per cent before the end of 2025.

This investment will see savings of in excess of $US250 million.

“This is an injection of US$250 million by the Government of Guyana that will positively impact disposable income by the reduction in the cost of electricity. That is more than $50 billion back in the pockets of the Guyanese people; this is where the revenue is going.”

Dr. Ali, while acknowledging the current electricity woes faced by citizens, detailed significant investments and achievements that have been made by the PPP/C administration.

Key metrics include a 173 per cent increase in investment over the previous government’s $10.3 billion, and the addition of 17.4 megawatts of power.

The government has installed over 100,000 meters, 4,000 transformers, and expanded 2,800 kilometers of distribution network. Despite a rise in fuel prices from $64 to $104 per barrel, electricity tariffs remain unchanged.

MORE SUPPORT FOR PENSIONERS

Additionally, the government has set aside $10 billion for the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) as part of measures to assist Guyana’s elderly, particularly those who have not made adequate contributions to the pension scheme.

He explained that this will target contributors who did not meet the requirement to benefit from the injection of cash that will support a better quality of living for them, allowing them the opportunity to benefit from the contributions.

SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN

President Ali further announced a new income tax provision that will take effect in 2025, allowing mothers and/or fathers to deduct an additional $10,000 per month for each child.

“This new income tax-deductible will mean that for every child a parent has, they are entitled to an additional $10,000 in tax-free income per month. ‘For example, if you have two children, your monthly income tax threshold will increase by $20,000, and for three children, it will rise by $30,000,’” he explained.

With this new provision, a parent who earns $120,000 per month and has two children will not be subject to income tax, as their tax-free level will rise to $120,000. The present income tax threshold is set at $100,000.