Prime Minister Mark Phillips is reaffirming the government’s commitment to an inclusive, people-centered budgeting process, while outlining plans
for the government. During a recent appearance on the Starting Point podcast, Prime Minister Phillips said the PPP/C administration’s approach to budgeting has always been rooted in wide stakeholder engagement. Highlighting the importance government places on public consultation, Phillips dismissed claims to the contrary by APNU leader Aubrey Norton.

“Our approach to budgeting is we try to involve all the people of Guyana – the stakeholders’ approach; we listened to the people. As you know we
would have had outreaches -cabinet outreaches- we listened to the people and incorporate all the concerns of the people into the formulation of the budget. And the 2026 budget will be no different,” the prime minister said.

Among the sectors that the PPP/C government prioritises in the budget is energy. The Prime Minister, who holds the energy portfolio, described the Gas-to-Energy project as a hallmark of the government’s development agenda.

He explained that the first phase, which is expected to come on stream by this year end, will deliver an additional 300 megawatts of power to the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System. Already, government has begun planning for Gas-to-Energy Phase Two to meet Guyana’s rapidly growing electricity demand.

“Right on the heels of GTE 1, we must have GTE 2 which is basically another 300 megawatts of power that we intend to have in place by 2030 to satisfy the growing demand for electricity in Guyana,” he added.

The Prime Minister also noted that beyond meeting energy demand, the Gas-to-Energy project will significantly lower electricity costs.