General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has upbraided the opposition for its lack of profundity and research in their criticisms of the historic $1.382 trillion budget, asserting that their statements lack depth, research, and credibility.
Dr Jagdeo, addressed the rhetoric surrounding the budget, during a news conference on Thursday at Freedom House in Georgetown.
Since the presentation of the framework, the Alliance for Change (AFC) and the PNC-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) have claimed the budget is not tailored to benefit the poor. They also claimed the government is prioritising infrastructure projects over the basic needs of the Guyanese population.
Jagdeo rejected these claims, labelling them as lazy rhetoric, designed to sound appealing to the public, without providing realistic alternatives to the Guyanese population.
“It’s repeated so often that maybe people might be misled because a lot of people sometimes don’t go to the source documents. They just listen to a programme on television or radio and say, that’s a fact,” he bemoaned.
With oil revenues funding 30 per cent of the national budget, Jagdeo rejected Nigel Hughes’ allegations that there is nothing proposed for the ordinary Guyanese people.
In fact, significant revenues are being invested in health, education and housing, with $175 billion, $143 billion and $112 billion earmarked respectively.
“That alone is $420 billion; just these three sectors [and] I go on. And [yet] they ask, where did the money go?…It’s described in great detail where the money will go, to what projects they will go,” he underscored.
According to the GS, these investments are tangible examples of the government focus on public welfare, in contrast to the self-serving priorities of the opposition while they were in government.
He then defended the government’s infrastructure agenda, stressing their importance for the broader needs of the population.
“We’re not putting it in building presidential palaces, like some countries with oil money. It’s going into building roads for our people in their communities. So if Nigel Hughes believes, and Norton, that we’re spending too much on roads, then they tell us which community or whose road we shouldn’t build … Because, trust me, every single community wants their road done,” the general secretary proclaimed.
He also rubbished allegations that the budget will only benefit “friends and families” of the government, pointing to large-scale inclusive initiatives that will benefit all citizens.
These include the distribution of 50,000 house lots, that is providing affordable solutions to Guyanese.
Additionally, nearly 4,000 small and medium contractors have benefitted from public investments, with many of those emanating from Linden, Region 10 and Georgetown, Region Four.
Scholarships from the government has also been awarded and will continue to be provided to thousands of Guyanese, regardless of their race or political affiliation.
Cost of living measures
Despite criticisms leveled against the proposed fiscal framework, the government has proposed a number of measures to combat the rising cost of living and provide additional disposable income into the pockets of Guyanese.
These include:
- A $9 billion allocation for targeted measures to combat high cost of living; these initiatives will be determined following extensive consultations with the relevant stakeholders
- $90b to maintain a zero excise tax on fuel and petroleum products. ensuring fuel costs are stabled
- Old-age pension will be increased from $36,000 to $41,000
- The Because We Care education grant has been raised to $50,000. Together with the $5,000 uniform, over 200,000 students will receive $55,000 to offset costs for educational necessities
- The income-tax threshold will be increased from $100,000 to $130,000 among other initiatives
According to the General Secretary, all these measures are part of efforts to reduce poverty, by providing jobs, reducing taxes and other interventions to address poverty and place additional disposable income into the pockets of Guyanese.