THERE is a strange habit among Guyana’s opposition politicians: they grab poverty statistics as a drowning person grabs for driftwood, without checking if it’s any good.
In parliamentary sessions and press briefings, the APNU– and now WIN — keeps using old poverty data to portray a Guyana that no longer exists. The reality, backed by solid data presented by Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh in his Budget 2026 speech, tells a different story.
Take the labour market, for example. In the first quarter of 2020, when the PPP/C took office, 264,862 people were working. By the fourth quarter of 2024, that number had risen to 369,270, creating over 104,000 jobs.
The national unemployment rate dropped, falling from 12.8 per cent to just 6.8 per cent. Most impressively, youth unemployment, which has historically been a stubborn and harmful issue—fell from 30.2 percent to 12.1 percent. These figures are not predictions or promises, they are actual results. Any politician who cites outdated poverty figures while ignoring this remarkable job growth is either misinformed or is misleading.
The opposition’s poverty claims also ignore the significant investments that are improving Guyanese lives from the ground up.
Since 2020, public-sector salaries have risen by 46 percent. The income-tax threshold has more than doubled from $65,000 to $140,000 monthly, lifting 65,000 people completely out of the tax system and putting $18 billion back into workers’ hands.
On top of that, there is a $100,000 cash grant for every adult citizen. The education grant has been increased to $85,000 per child, old-age pensions have been raised from $41,000 to $46,000, and public assistance has more than doubled from $9,000 to $25,000. These moves are not superficial, they are meaningful transfers of wealth to everyday Guyanese.
Further, Budget 2026, at $1.558 trillion— the largest ever, funded without new taxes—directs resources into housing, planning for 40,000 new homes, into health with billions set aside for top-tier hospitals and digital health systems, more schools, scholarships, and vocational training, and into a new SME Development Bank offering zero-interest, zero-collateral loans of up to $3 million for small-business owners.
The gas-to-energy project, which is set to finish this year, will double electricity production and cut costs in half— a significant boost for the manufacturing sector.
Guyana’s population has surpassed one million for the first time. This growth isn’t just from natural increases; it also comes from returning diaspora members and foreign investors—people voting with their feet. When people choose to move to a country, it’s not one stuck in poverty.
The opposition should let go of its outdated data and engage with the real Guyana, a nation experiencing its most ambitious economic and social changes in 60 years, where smart investment, not old rhetoric, is making a difference.
