Latest update March 12th, 2026 9:56 PM
‘This is a vision, not just a budget’ …Teixeira defends $1.5T spending plan, slams opposition’s record
(Kaieteur News) – Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, on Friday mounted a robust defence of the Government’s $1.558 trillion 2026 Budget, arguing that it represents not merely a collection of projects and expenditures, but a long-term vision for Guyana that couples infrastructure expansion with human development.
Contributing to the Budget Debate in the National Assembly, Teixeira described the spending plan as “people-centred in the truest sense,” saying it protects the vulnerable, empowers families, supports workers, strengthens communities and reinforces Guyana’s emerging role as a regional leader in sustainable development.
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira
Teixeira used her speech to reflect on the hardships of the 1970s and 1980s and boasted of the transformational progress the PPP/C government made from 1992 to “transform lives”. “I am proud to see my country move from what it was in the 70s and 80s to what it is today. I am proud to have lived long enough to have seen what is happening to my country, to see the change, to see the transformation, to see the improvements in the quality of our people’s lives,” she said.
The minister recalled that during those years, there were issues of no water, no electricity, poor road infrastructure among other challenges noting that “poverty in this country was stark, (and) palpable.”
Teixeira also called out the PNCR Opposition that during their time in government, “you destroy democracy, you take away the will of the people, you bring the working people down to zero.”
She noted that the Opposition claimed they did not had the money to fund various projects during their time. “I’ve heard comments said that, Oh, we didn’t have money. We didn’t have oil money. When they were in government for 2015 to 2020, I want to remind them when they won the government in 2015 to 2020 they took the government that was left in their hands had US$783 million in foreign currency reserves to cover the three months and more of Guyana’s foreign currency reserves, and $13 billion in the gold reserves. In 2020, when they were out and we check the books, that $783 million went down to $300 million. Where the money gone?” the Minister disclosed.
“And so the issue of saying to us, Oh, we didn’t have money. You had money. You had money, but what you did with it did not benefit the people of this country,” Teixeira argued. She noted since 1992 when her party took over they began to build out the necessary infrastructures and improved services stating that Guyanese now have access to free education, scholarships, books, internet, smart studies, cash care grants, to electricity either through solar or the grid, and clean water, and housing just to name a few. “No one is saying on this side of the house, we’ve solved all the problems. We’re not saying that. We’re saying that consistently, constantly, sustainably, we’re moving this country forward,” Teixeira related.
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