Govt. seeks $24B more from coffers

Dec 12, 2023 News

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– will push 2023 budget to $897.9B

Kaieteur News – The Government of Guyana (GoG) has introduced yet another supplemental financial proposal in the National Assembly, aiming for an additional $24 billion. If approved, this will mark a total supplementary budget of $116 billion for the year, following the passage of the country’s largest budget of $781.9 billion back in February.

Senior Minister in the Office of the President, responsible for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, tabled Financial Paper No.5 of 2023 on Monday, slated for consideration during the next Parliamentary session.

This supplementary allocation is designed to cater to expanded work programmes until December 31, 2023, encompassing $10,142,492,044 for current expenditures and $13,901,603,864 for capital expenditures.

It caters for over $12.3 billion for the agriculture sector including provisions for subsidies and contributions in local organisations and additional resources for the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority to execute drainage and irrigation works.

These drainage irrigation interventions are aimed at mitigating the effects El Nino has had on Guyana’s agricultural sector. Farmers have been demanding additional support to protect and boost the productivity of their crops and livestock and Government had committed to providing this support. It would be recalled as well that in November last, President Ali had indicated that as part of the $5B cost of living allocation, $850M would be used for the acquisition of fertilizer to be distributed to the farmers.

Further, over $1B was sought under the Ministry of Public Works for maintenance of roads, procurement of equipment and for the Transport and Harbours Department with the country continuing to undergo massive infrastructure transformation.

In terms of the health sector, $3.9B was sought largely to support the rollout of healthcare infrastructure with $3.3B provided for the construction of the New Amsterdam Regional Hospital, which adds to the suite of several new hospitals as part of Government’s broader agenda to modernize the health care system.

Under the education sector, over $530.6M was sought for additional inflows under the Caribbean Development Bank loan for the skills development and employability project.

Under the Ministry of Home Affairs, over $2.8B was sought for various initiatives including $2.8B to boost the firefighting capabilities of the Guyana Fire Service including their operations in hinterland and outlying areas. The Financial paper also sought nearly $1.3 billion for the Guyana Defence Force for defence and security support while under the Regional Development programme, more than $527 million was catered for a number of development programmes in Regions One, Six, Seven, Eight and Nine.

Under the Office of the Prime Minister, supplementary provisions sought included more than $188 million for additional resources to support the Linden Electricity Company Incorporated to sustain Ituni’s operation, the Mahdia Power and Light Inc. and Kwakwani Utilities, as well as for additional inflows under the Government of India’s supported Line of Credit due to an acceleration in the delivery of solar photovoltaic systems.

This additional budgeting follows previous supplemental budgets passed earlier in the year: in July, a $31 billion supplementary budget was passed. The sum includes $4.7 billion that will be directly allocated to 242 Indigenous communities and $26.5 billion for climate adaptation measures that were earned through Guyana’s carbon credits deal with the Hess Corporation. It also allocated US$150 million in revenues from carbon credits towards two critical priorities under the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).

In August, a $61 billion supplementary was approved, distributing funds across various sectors. The disaggregated sum of $61,013,184,705 includes $10,181,998,722 and $50,831,185,983 for current and capital projects, respectively.

The fiscal provision allocated an additional $5 billion to the Office of the Prime Minister; $33 billion for the Ministry of Public Works, and over $3 billion for the Ministry of Education. Other notable provisions include close to $15 million more for the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs for Security services; $500 million more for the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and $638 million additional resources for the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).  Under the Health Sector, $1 billion was approved for the rehabilitation and upgrade of health facilities countrywide.

Meanwhile, under the Ministry of Agriculture, over $8B was approved. The Ministry of Home Affairs also received an additional $1.5 billion to procure vehicles and boats to boost the operational effectiveness of the Guyana Police Force and finance other initiatives.

The initial budget of $781.9 billion, passed in February, was partially financed through revenue generated from Guyana’s sale of carbon credits, with contributions from the Hess Corporation. Budget 2023 included significant allocations for crucial sectors, including healthcare, education, and infrastructure development. Notable projects included the construction of a natural gas liquids plant, a combined cycle gas turbine power plant, upgrades to highways, bridges, and energy supply systems.

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• Dr. Ashni Singh, Government, responsible for Finance, Senior Minister in the Office of the President, Supplemental

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