The 2012 National Budget will be presented to the National Assembly next Friday, March 30, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh said. The budget is constitutionally due before the end of the first quarter.
Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh
Dr Singh had recently assured the media that preparatory works for the budget presentation are well advanced, while noting that the process is an extremely lengthy one that begun some six months ago.
Last year’s Gy$161.4 billion budget, the largest in the country’s history, was presented on January 17, 2011 under the theme, “Together building tomorrow’s Guyana today”. It was aimed at maintaining the already stable macroeconomic environment, while strengthening the economy to improve the lives of Guyanese.
Dr Singh had indicated that this year’s budget will continue to reflect government’s emphasis on promoting economic growth and social development in Guyana, with ongoing priority given to investment in physical infrastructure and social services.
However, the opposition parties have indicated their dismay over their inability to adequately participate in consultations with the government in the putting together of the budget.
In January, President Donald Ramotar had turned down the opposition coalition, the A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) request for the opposition to have a more inclusionary role, beyond consultation in the constructing of the 2012 budget, stating clearly it is government’s business and not the opposition’s.
However, the APNU’s chairman, now Opposition Leader David Granger indicated that the opposition was more or less expecting a collaborated examination and compilation of this year’s budget given the new dispensation in Parliament, as opposed to an entirely government constructed budget.
Since then a tripartite budgetary committee was established to deal with budgetary issues, but there was never a meeting to discuss the preparation of the budget. A meeting was held last week to deal with this issue, but unfortunately, the budget was not discussed.
Members of the opposition present at that meeting were told to make submissions that were to be considered by the government. Only recently, there was much bickering between government and the opposition on hosting of the tripartite budget talks which saw the finance minister accusing Granger of being misinformed, following statements by Granger that said the passage of the budget seems grim as no meeting had been held as of March 13.
However, the finance minister lashed back at Granger, stating that it was the opposition which was delaying the meeting to discuss the budget as invitations were issued to all parliamentary parties for a meeting to be held on March 7.
Dr Singh said Alliance for Change’s (AFC) Gerhard Ramsaroop asked for a “minor shift in the proposed time”, while the APNU’s shadow Finance Minister Carl Greenidge said he was unavailable for the meeting.
Following those requests, Dr Singh said he rescheduled the meeting to the next week where Greenidge failed to respond along with the AFC’s representatives. He stated “the fact of the matter is that a postponement to the meeting was requested on Greenidge’s behalf, and Greenidge is still to respond to the minister’s proposal of a revised date”.
A release from the Government Information Agency said the government would have had no choice but to go ahead with the other opposition representatives if Greenidge continues to be unavailable.
Since the squabble, Greenidge noted that he would not take part in any budget talks with the government.
The APNU appointed Greenidge and Winston Jordan to represent them on the budget consultation committee.
In the meantime, the AFC had said that it has prepared a team of financial experts to scrutinise the national budget when it is presented to the House on March 30.
That party has indicated its intention to review the budget with a fine tooth comb so as to ensure that the allocations are in the best interest of the citizenry. Issues of job creation, the personal income tax threshold, adjustments to the income tax, and the reduction of VAT are some of the key areas both opposition parties intend to focus on.
The 2012 National Budget will be presented to the National Assembly next Friday, March 30, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh said. The budget is constitutionally due before the end of the first quarter.Dr Singh had recently assured the media that preparatory works for the budget presentation are well advanced, while noting that the process is an extremely lengthy one that begun some six months ago.Last year’s Gy$161.4 billion budget, the largest in the country’s history, was presented on January 17, 2011 under the theme, “Together building tomorrow’s Guyana today”. It was aimed at maintaining the already stable macroeconomic environment, while strengthening the economy to improve the lives of Guyanese.Dr Singh had indicated that this year’s budget will continue to reflect government’s emphasis on promoting economic growth and social development in Guyana, with ongoing priority given to investment in physical infrastructure and social services.However, the opposition parties have indicated their dismay over their inability to adequately participate in consultations with the government in the putting together of the budget.In January, President Donald Ramotar had turned down the opposition coalition, the A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) request for the opposition to have a more inclusionary role, beyond consultation in the constructing of the 2012 budget, stating clearly it is government’s business and not the opposition’s.However, the APNU’s chairman, now Opposition Leader David Granger indicated that the opposition was more or less expecting a collaborated examination and compilation of this year’s budget given the new dispensation in Parliament, as opposed to an entirely government constructed budget.Since then a tripartite budgetary committee was established to deal with budgetary issues, but there was never a meeting to discuss the preparation of the budget. A meeting was held last week to deal with this issue, but unfortunately, the budget was not discussed.Members of the opposition present at that meeting were told to make submissions that were to be considered by the government. Only recently, there was much bickering between government and the opposition on hosting of the tripartite budget talks which saw the finance minister accusing Granger of being misinformed, following statements by Granger that said the passage of the budget seems grim as no meeting had been held as of March 13.However, the finance minister lashed back at Granger, stating that it was the opposition which was delaying the meeting to discuss the budget as invitations were issued to all parliamentary parties for a meeting to be held on March 7.Dr Singh said Alliance for Change’s (AFC) Gerhard Ramsaroop asked for a “minor shift in the proposed time”, while the APNU’s shadow Finance Minister Carl Greenidge said he was unavailable for the meeting.Following those requests, Dr Singh said he rescheduled the meeting to the next week where Greenidge failed to respond along with the AFC’s representatives. He stated “the fact of the matter is that a postponement to the meeting was requested on Greenidge’s behalf, and Greenidge is still to respond to the minister’s proposal of a revised date”. A release from the Government Information Agency said the government would have had no choice but to go ahead with the other opposition representatives if Greenidge continues to be unavailable.Since the squabble, Greenidge noted that he would not take part in any budget talks with the government.The APNU appointed Greenidge and Winston Jordan to represent them on the budget consultation committee. In the meantime, the AFC had said that it has prepared a team of financial experts to scrutinise the national budget when it is presented to the House on March 30.That party has indicated its intention to review the budget with a fine tooth comb so as to ensure that the allocations are in the best interest of the citizenry. Issues of job creation, the personal income tax threshold, adjustments to the income tax, and the reduction of VAT are some of the key areas both opposition parties intend to focus on.
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