Senior Finance Minister Dr. Ashni K. Singh has announced that Budget Day for this year will be Wednesday January 26, 2022. The Minister had been over the last several months meeting and consulting with various stakeholders including Government Ministries, private sector and other agencies as preparations continued for the new Budget. This Budget is expected to comprise a number of critical developmental programmes and projects which will catapult Government’s agenda and take the country forward. It will also be a continuation of the fast-paced development path which served to be of benefit to citizens all across the country since the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) entered office on August 2, 2020.The 2022 Budget is the third Budget presented by the PPP/C administration and the second for Dr. Singh who has been serving as Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance from November 2020 to present.
The first Budget was an Emergency Budget presented in August 2020. This saw the immediate reversal of a number of punitive taxes instituted by the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) Government among other significant measures while last year’s Budget comprised several developmental projects in a number of sectors.
The 2021 Budget presented in February 2021 under the theme ‘A Path to Recovery, Economic Dynamism, and Resilience’ included funding for the construction of various housing schemes and expansion of existing ones, investment in the revitalization of the country’s sugar industry, programmes in partnership with the private sector and other stakeholders for investment in the tourism and hospitality sector, the construction of a number of new roads and other infrastructure as well as a number of cash grants to citizens that assisted them after the destruction of crops and livestock during the devastating flood of June 2021, a seven percent increase to the public sector and cash grants throughout the year which allowed for the stimulation of the economy.
Additionally, the 2021 Budget provided for large injections into the health sector and assistance to frontline health sector workers (vaccines and other health supplies) as the country continued to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. The developmental programmes included in the Budgets all in all represent the fulfillment of promises made by the PPP/C administration in its 2020 Manifesto.
Government has indicated its intention to ensure that it fulfills every promise made to the citizens of Guyana and for which it was elected to office.
