Latest update September 20th, 2026 10:40 AM
Budget insight …No loose spending for 2017 – President Granger
By Kiana Wilburg
Given the poor performance of some of the nation’s main traditional sectors such as rice, timber, bauxite and sugar, President David Granger says that the 2017 budget is expected to feature an element of conservatism.
President, David Granger
The Head of State made this assertion, among others, during a brief interview with the press after the taping of his show, “The Public Interest” yesterday.
Granger was asked to provide media operatives with some insight into the 2017 budget which is slated to be presented to the National Assembly by Minister of Finance Winston Jordan next Monday.
The President said, “What we are looking at essentially is institutional sustainability. We want to ensure that our institutions such as the Auditor General’s Office, the Guyana Elections Commission, the Judiciary, various boards and Commissions, are functioning efficiently and effectively.”
The Head of State disclosed that the 2017 budget is also centred on ensuring financial sustainability.
In this regard, Granger noted that some of the traditional pillars of the economy have not performed as the administration would have hoped.
Granger noted however that Government has had some success with gold and diamonds. In fact, he noted that gold production has actually become the backbone of the economy at this time.
“So we are looking at that type of sustainability. We have to reduce unnecessary expenditure in certain areas and ensure we generate more employment for young people. We have to continue to put money into the social sector to ensure people are happy.”
Another area the budget is expected to look at is environmental sustainability. In this regard, the Head of State said that other countries are recognizing Guyana as a carbon sink and other countries are prepared to pay Guyana to keep parts of its forests standing.
He said it is hoped that more jobs for young people can be created in the area of ecotourism.
“The key word for the budget will be sustainability, and there will be an element of what I would say is conservatism. There wouldn’t be any loose spending because as I said those four important sectors of the economy have underperformed.”
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