Opposition recommends fuel subsidies, price controls to ease cost of living

Last Updated on Friday, 1 May 2026, 17:01 by Writer

Parliamentary leader of the opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Dr Terrence Campbell on Friday recommended that government use extra revenues from higher oil revenues due to the Israel-U.S. war with Iran to subsidise fuels at the pump.

He said the Natural Resources Fund (NRF) Act could be amended temporarily to allow the government to allocate some of those earnings to ease the high cost of gasoline and diesel at filling stations which feeds into rising costs of goods and services.

“I think the easiest way that something could have been done is to ease the pressure at the pump, at the source,” he told reporters.

The NRF Act currently provides for revenues in the current year to be transferred to the consolidated fund the following year.

Two months ago before war, the State-owned Guyana Oil Company was selling gasoline at GY$170 per litre compared to the current price of GY$208 while diesel has moved from GY$168 to GY$210/GY$268 over the same period.

The Brent price of crude on Friday was US$108.35 per barrel, above the US$59 that was projected in the 2026 national budget.

Dr Campbell said Guyana was also raking in higher revenues from gold now trading at US$4,611.35 per ounce.

Pouring cold water on the GY$3 billion cash payout for rice farmers, who have complained about the impact of rising fertiliser, fuel, transportation and water costs on their operations, the APNU parliamentary leader quipped that “man shall not live by rice alone”.

“I don’t believe that the subsidy for rice farmers necessarily will necessarily bring the relief that we’re looking for. Everything else has gone up…This is why I believe the essence of it is that you should go to the pump because a lot of it starts at the pump where we bring relief,” he said.

Dr Campbell further recommended that the “uncaring” government provides an additional GY$200,000 cash grant.

Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed said in the same way that Central Bank Governor Dr Gobind Ganga had instructed commercial banks to ensure there was a three-dollar spread between the buying and selling rate for the United States dollar, the government could introduce price controls for basic consumer items to cushion the impact of rising cost of living.

“We need to set up some markets even controlled by the government and put a certain cap on prices of food items… We need price controls in this country because trust me the price will be even higher,” he told reporters before the May Day parade commenced from Middle and Carmichael streets.

The Opposition Leader also said the unions “need to be more vibrant” in representing public servants so that they could earn a living wage.

Meanwhile, General Secretary of the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees, Dawchand Nagasar said he last week held talks with the Minister of Labour about the minimum wages in the public and private sectors.