As the country reels from the effects of the five-month political impasse and COVID-19 restrictions, the PPP/C government yesterday said that it is hoping to bring some financial relief with its 2020 budget in early September.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, who is assisting with oversight of the financial sector in the absence of a substantive Minister of Finance, yesterday told a news conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre that the traditional preparation process has been slashed to 21 days.
“The reason why this is so is because the country and the help the people need in many of the sectors can’t be made available to them unless we have an early budget,” he said, and explained that a Minister of Finance could be named soon but he did not rule out that the Budget could be presented by him when Parliament resumes.
In recent years, budgets have been presented in the months before the start of the fiscal year. This was not possible for 2020 because of the general elections, which were held on March 2nd.
And while the PPP/C had during its campaign promised to cut over 200 current tax measures, Jagdeo explained that because of the state of the economy and the effects of the pandemic, some measures will have to wait until the economy starts to recover.
“This is depending on the targeted size of the fiscal deficit, so it doesn’t become inflationary or put too much strain on the balance of payment, through the exchange rate mechanisms,” he said
But he promises a budget that will be a cushion to all facing economic hardships, especially from the coronavirus and announced that special emoluments will be given to front line healthcare and other workers, who have toiled tirelessly since the first COVID-19 case was detected here in March.
