AS government MPs prepare to defend Budget 2026 in the National Assembly today, they enter the debate chamber with something their opponents lack: a detailed, fully-costed plan based on economic reality and a solid track record of delivery.
The $1.558 trillion budget, Guyana’s largest ever, represents not just fiscal ambition but a continuation of the progress that saw this nation’s economy grow by 19.3 percent in 2025, with the non-oil sector expanding by an impressive 14.3 percent.
The opposition’s predictable attack on Budget 2026 shows their disconnect from economic understanding and the everyday concerns of ordinary Guyanese.
As Minister Kwame McCoy noted, instead of engaging with macroeconomic stability, sectoral investments, and long-term development planning, critics use “noise, slogans, and shallow sound bites.”
This is the same opposition that failed to present any costed alternatives during the 2025 elections, but now demands fiscal miracles without explaining how to pay for them.
Look at the concrete measures in Budget 2026 that directly improve citizens’ lives: a $100,000 national cash grant for every adult, old age pensions raised to $46,000 monthly with an added $20,000 transportation grant, the income tax threshold lifted to $140,000, removing 5,000 people from the tax net, and the ‘Because We Care’ grant increased to $60,000 per child.
President Ali pointed out that these measures alone make up about $150 billion in direct cash transfers for a nation with under one million people. This is an unprecedented social investment; yet the opposition dismisses it as not enough while providing no credible alternatives.
The budget’s sectoral allocations show strategic thinking that looks beyond immediate spending towards building productive capacity.
The $183.6 billion for education, which includes 40 new schools, expanded dormitories in the hinterland, free tertiary education, and GOAL scholarships, is an investment in human capital that will benefit future generations. Similarly, the $161.1 billion healthcare budget supports 12 new regional hospitals, a Paediatric and Maternity Hospital, national electronic health records, and training for over 5,600 health professionals. These are not handouts; they are essential infrastructures for a modern, competitive economy.
Critics who say Budget 2026 benefits only “friends, families, and favourites” ignore the $159 billion housing budget for 15,000 house lots and 8,000 homes, the $113.2 billion invested in agriculture and food security, and the $119.4 billion for the gas-to-energy project, which will reduce electricity costs by half and double production capacity. These investments reach every region, community, and economic group.
Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips rightly described this budget as confirming “Guyana’s irreversible shift into a modern, high-performing economy,” delivered without new taxes and fully financed through responsible fiscal management.
The contrast with the APNU+AFC era when higher taxes and limited access were common, is striking. As the Prime Minister stated clearly, “The facts are recorded. The country has moved on.”
As the debate starts today, government MPs should confidently defend Budget 2026, knowing it backs growth, protects vulnerable citizens, and wisely manages a fast-growing economy.
The opposition may criticise, but unless they present credible, costed alternatives and identify real resource reallocations, their objections are just political theatre. Budget 2026 gets the basics right, and the Guyanese people whose lives are noticeably improving, see this truth, even if the opposition does not.
