Latest update March 24th, 2025 7:05 AM
Govt. tampering with debt ceiling is evidence of no strategy – Volda Lawrence
Opposition Member of Parliament, Volda Lawrence
Kaieteur News – Opposition Member of Parliament (MP), Volda Lawrence has said that the government’s persistent tampering with the debt ceiling is indicative of the absence of a debt strategy.
The MP made the revelation during her Budget presentation on Friday at the National Assembly. Speaking about debt in her presentation, the MP labeled this as an area of concern.
In her presentation, she said that, “The government’s persistent tampering of the borrowing ceilings over the last three years is indicative of the absence of a medium-term plan and debt strategy, for which several international institutions have been pressing.”
Lawrence said after changing the ceilings for domestic and foreign borrowings twice between 2021 through 2023, and now proposing to raise the ceilings once again, this signals the government’s continued reliance on debt financing.
Lawrence, in her presentation, said that as evidenced by the projected stock of public and publicly guaranteed debt, debt is projected to rise by 49 percent for the period 2023 to 2024 or from $4.509 billion, in 2023 to $6.725 billion in 2024.
She questioned if the government is not following known economic best practices.
Kaieteur News had reported that in a United Nations (UN) report titled, ‘A World of Debt: A growing burden to prosperity’ it warned that in developing countries, like Guyana, that public debt becomes a burden when it grows too fast.
The UN group explained that public debt can be vital for development, some Governments use it to finance their expenditures, to protect and invest in their people, however, “It can also be a heavy burden, when public debt grows too much or too fast. This is what is happening today across the developing world. Public debt has reached colossal levels.”
The Opposition MP suggested that government’s move to not follow best practices is either an issue of incompetence or a deliberate by-pass to create opportunities for misappropriation and non-transparency.
“Sir, it is of no comfort to us, the taxpayers, the Guyanese family, that such borrowings are supposedly prudent and sustainable,” Lawrence concluded.
Kaieteur News reported that Senior Minister within the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh in his budget presentation revealed that government will be approaching the National Assembly for an increase in the domestic and external debt ceilings. He said this will provide the flexibility needed to optimise on the financing mix while at the same time safeguarding debt sustainability.
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