Budget 2015: APNU/AFC Govt “duped” Guyana – Jagdeo

BY ALEXIS RODNEY

Amid his claim that the 2015 National Budget is a copycat of the initiatives of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), former President Bharrat Jagdeo on Tuesday said that the new Government has deceived the Guyanese populace.

A day after the National Budget was presented in the National Assembly, the former President and soon to be Opposition Leader told a media conference that the new Administration’s plans as projected in the Gy$221 billion budget has not really addressed the real issues affecting Guyanese.

He spoke particularly of the proposed increase in salaries for public servants, which he said is nothing spectacular, and is less in comparison to what his Party, while in power, had been offering.

Jagdeo said what bothers him significantly is the timeline for payment given by Government. Finance Minister Winston Jordan had announced that effective July 1, 2015, all other public servants will receive a five per cent salary increase plus an additional Gy$5000 monthly. This, according to Jordon, will allow for a greater increase in the lower income brackets.

For example, a worker currently earning Gy$50,000 will have a monthly increase of Gy$7500, or 15 per cent; a person currently receiving a salary of Gy$100,000 would get a 10 per cent increase. Jordan said since the bulk of the public servants earns Gy$100,000 and below, these are substantial increases, more than was promised to these categories of workers. These increases are payable to workers who were employed on or before January 1, 2015.

But Jagdeo maintained that Guyanese were “duped.” “It’s only effective for six months in the year… So if you look at the 15 per cent ostensibly, people who were making Gy$50,000 are effectively getting 7.5 per cent for the year and if you look at those at Gy$100,000, they are getting five per cent for the year. If you look at the Gy$500,000, they are getting three per cent. These are even lower than what the PPP/C gave in the past. So Jordan has played a three card trick on the people”.

The Former President spoke also to the rationale behind the removal of the Gy$10,000 ‘Because We Care’ cash grant and the decision to bump up the school Uniform Voucher by a mere Gy$500. He said if that Gy$10,000 was multiplied by the 167,000 school children, it would have cost Government some Gy$1.67 billion. “So what they have done is that they have given Gy$337 million by increasing the uniform allowance and have taken back Gy$1.3 billion from the students” Jagdeo said, while he applauded the increase in pension to the over 47,000 senior citizens.

The former Head of State said he was still unclear on whether Government  was going to continue the utility subsidy for pensioners.  He said if Government goes the route of taking back the initiative which started under his Administration, he however could not see how that Gy$4000 increase in their monthly pension would be able to assist them in the payment of their water and electricity bills. According to him, the move will put the 62 per cent who benefit from water in a very “worst off position”.

Added to that, he questioned the Government’s rationale behind the tax exemptions which he said were being done in lieu of the reduction in rates of the Value Added Tax which were promised. Most of the items selected to be zero rated, Jagdeo said, were already not attracting tax. He said too that while he supported the move to offer duty-free concessions to the security sector, that does not provide a stimulant package, neither does it offer any solution to the existing issues, like the cost of living.

Jagdeo said that Jordan’s announcement that Government has some Gy$97 billion to spend for the four remaining months of the year would mean that it would have to spend at least Gy$800 million per day. He said “we will be watching for their procurement practice. Because one thing he did not say, when we left office that there was no procurement law”.

Further, he said the Party will be fiercely debating every issue raised in the budget presentation including the elections, corruption and the budget itself, which he said will give his Party latitude. He said that while the debate is generally based in economics, anything the Minister says during his presentation is up for debate.

Minister Jordan on Monday presented a whopping Gy$221 billion budget for 2015 as the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Chance Government seeks to fulfil its 20/20 vision for the development of Guyana and its people.

This sum is in comparison to the Gy$220 billion budget for the entire year of 2014.

During the coalition’s inaugural budget presentation before the National Assembly, Minister Jordan stated that the 2015 Budget will see a citizenry that is better educated, healthier, financially and physically secure, socially cohesive, and environmentally responsible.

The Finance Minister added that the vision will be realised against a backdrop of inclusionary democracy, enhanced accountability and performance improvement and macroeconomic stability.