Budget 2024-dark plagues on the people

Feb 02, 2024 Editorial

Kaieteur News – This year’s budget proves the trickiness and callousness of the PPPC Government smart men. They give a few crumbs with one hand to weighed down Guyanese and, with the next hand, they pile tough burdens on the same people. Much fanfare introduced the $3,000 pittance of a monthly increase for the elderly and those with some qualifying disability. Much more has been trumpeted about the increase in assistance given to parents of schoolchildren to help them manage. Further, considerable mileage has been made of the $15,000 increase in the income tax threshold that frees 13,000 Guyanese workers from any tax obligation. Ordinarily, these and other provisions already in place would have some resonance, when taken together. There is a dark side, though, that the pundits and propagandists of the government conveniently choose to bypass.

The cost of living is so high that it is crippling the poor of this very rich country. By any measure, $3,000 to those living on single incomes, where the prices of basics are constantly going up, is a disgrace, a palpable shame on leaders, who are in charge of the money. Local circumstances make clear that $3,000 more for the needy does very little for them, does not help to manage the spiraling expenses of a regular month. This is even when no new items are added, and only the essentials for survival are purchased. How much purchasing power does $3,000 more permit? When the schoolchildren’s increase and the 13,000 workers now exempted from income taxes are aggregated, they still fall woefully short of making a meaningful difference in the lives of Guyanese. They lose their fight to come to grips with a punishing cost-of-living environment.

Those Guyanese working for $100,000 or less monthly are the best witnesses, the best jurors, to relay the pain of trying to handle their bills and needs with that miserable level of income. Yet, there was nothing said about a potential increase to the minimum wage already devastatingly low. What is clear is that the PPPC Government is held hostage by, and terrified of, the private sector, the richest presence in its support base. The budget can allocate hundreds of billions for areas where the private sector overflows with feastings. Because of that the government can only spare a few measly thousands in an over-a-trillion-dollar budget for more than 100,000 Guyanese tottering under the pressure of the times.

But there are more elements to the dark side of the budget. In the strange economic wisdom of the PPPC Government, 40% of the budget has to be financed by borrowing $458 billion. It is the Guyanese people, be they low wage earners, anxious pensioners, or neglected public servants, who are now yoked to a soaring debt overhang. The debt has to be repaid, and the poor in Guyana are going to feel that pressure, forced to cope with the juggling that features when loans have to be serviced. When the reckless spendthrifts in the PPPC Government binge on debt, the load of repayment on the people’s head bend them double. The never-less-than-cunning operators in the government have lined up increasing the debt ceiling in parliament to give a sheen of legitimacy to the upcoming borrowing splurge.

Another dark and worrying component of the 2024 budget is that US$1 billion has to be withdrawn from the Natural Resources Fund to support the wild and irresponsible spending. The money that should be held in reserve for hard times and wiser use is being pulled out and squandered today, so that the PPPC Government cabal can enjoy the best of good times daily. Many Guyanese overlook the fact that it is the presence of billions of barrels of oil that generate so many willing lenders to Guyana: the nation’s oil wealth is the collateral for more and more loans. The precious New York-housed Oil Fund is being drained, and the oil itself is being tied up by debt. Citizens should have no difficulty in figuring out why lenders are ecstatic to lend to Guyana. Anyhow that this budget is examined, it has what is very good for the PPPC Government, and what is very skimpy, very ugly, and very unfriendly for ordinary citizens.

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Budget 2024, dark plagues, Editorial, Government, PPPC

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