Nothing in budget for working class- APNU+AFC’s Walton, Norton; Budget provides more disposable income- Pres Ali

Last Updated on Monday, 15 January 2024, 22:13 by Denis Chabrol

APNU+AFC MP Amanza Walton-Desir                         President Irfaan Ali

Opposition A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) parliamentarian, Amanza Walton-Desir on Monday discarded the 2024 National Budget minutes after Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh delivered the GY$1.1 trillion package of expenditures.

“It met my expectations of the PPP (People’s Progressive Party) government and that is absolutely nothing of substance for working class Guyanese,” she told reporters.

Old Age Pensions have been increased from GY$33,000 to GY$36,000 monthly, and Public Assistance would also get a GY$19,000 up by GY$3,000.  The Income Tax threshold has bee hiked from GY$85,000 to GY$100,000 monthly, but Ms Walton-Desir said she expected that more money would have been put at the disposal of the working people. “I am happy to see things like the increase in the public assistance but in a trillion dollar budget, it could be more,” she said. She contended that spending was more directed to infrastructure rather than on focussing on the needs of Guyanese especially with spiralling cost of living. “Elections are coming and I want the people of Guyana that when they needed assistance the most, this government preferred to pour it into concrete,” she said.

The opposition coalition had demanded an Income Tax threshold of GY$150,000 monthly.

The APNU+AFC parliamentarian questioned the motive behind the Guyana Online Learning Academy (GOAL) which is getting GY$4.1 billion while the University of Guyana has been allocated GY$4 billion in the 2024 budget. “GOAL seems to be somebody’s business and we’re going to get to the bottom of exactly what it is because year after year in a trillion dollar budget, you are starving the university of resources,” she said. She said government should have been “pumping” money into research and development.

PNCR Leader Aubrey Norton

Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton pilloried government for allocating under 10 percent of the budget on people. “Therefore, to talk anything about building prosperity for all is out,” he said. Instead of financing school children transportation and paying teachers more,  he said monies have been set aside to build more schools for cash to find its way into the hands of its supporters.

In a statement immediately after Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh delivered the 2024 National Budget to the National Assembly, President Irfaan Ali reiterated that from this year government would begin forgiving tuition fee debts owed by University of Guyana graduates who had been working in Guyana for a yet to be determined period. “Our first phase of free university education will commence this year with the elimination of all loans, all outstanding student loans owed by students of the University of Guyana so our push for free university education, as we promised, is well on its way long before 2025,” he said.

The President defended the GY$3,000 increase in Old Age Pension this year, saying the 76,00 pensioners would get 2.7 billion in disposable income. If there is an old age couple, he said the GY$72,000 would “allow them to live in dignity.” In some cases, the increase in the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) pension of GY$43,075 could mean that couple could get another GY$80,000 monthly.

He boasted that the budget would provide more disposable income and support for vulnerable groups, women and children amounting to about GY$100 billion. He singled out containing the cost of fuel which passes through to cost of production to the cost of goods and services as an example of in which ordinary people do not have to pay GY$40 billion on fuel taxes. The cost of freight relief, which is used to calculate import taxes, he said, would save the private sector and consumers GY$6 billion.

Dr Ali said another GY$10 billion would  be spent on employing another 7,000 government part-time workers who would use that money to service small  loans or buy goods and services. Currently, there are 15,000 part time workers.

According to the Guyanese leader, the 2024 Budget provides GY$7 billion for cost of living allowances for specific groups “as we analyse” the global economy.  He also referred to the scrapping of Value Added Tax and duties on all sport equipment. VAT and duties are also removed from cell phone accessories such as parts, cables, chargers an headphones.  He said the 2024 fiscal package focusses on the important projects and policies that would transform the country and build national prosperity.

The GY$40,000 cash grant for more than 200,000 students, he said, was another measure to make more money available to Guyanese. But Mr Norton said government should have paid for transporting school children to school and increase workers’ salaries. “The government is so spent on creating this gravy children so that they can have a nice life,” he said. He said government should have invested in ‘night schools’ to increase access to education.

On the matter of improving transportation links and reducing accidents, the Opposition Leader accused government of discriminating against Linden, an opposition stronghold, by failing to build a four-lane Linden-Soesdyke Highway.

“That’s the big problem with this budget. It’s a hodge-podge of projects and not part of an integrated plan,” he said.