Dear Editor,
The 2023 national budget looks like it will be a repeat of the 2022 one. Guyana’s version of lobbyists are busy delivering their laundry lists of expectations, making their case (recommendations) before receptive ears for lavish budgetary gifts. They will be because the PPP Government will ensure that delectable budgetary generosity is finalized. In contrast, there are those without voice, without access, without representation, and who have no choice but to take what they get.
The working, struggling, hurting poor of Guyana needs a bigger slice of Guyana’s budget, particularly in these oil rich times. The expectant should not hold their breath, they risk choking. Meanwhile, there is that now accepted practice of the private sector working overtime to squeeze more sweet extras for itself. It is not even the private sector per se, but the Private Sector Commission, which is like a PPP satellite. The PPP listens, and the PSC will be happy that its so-called recommendations are accepted, their lobbying efforts bearing delicious fruit. These are the people with access, with clout, with results that have meaning, as in billions, in aggregate.
What will be in the bag of financial goodies for them this year? Certainly, numerous sweeteners as payback for the PSC for donations, and gifts. More tax breaks, more concessions, more exemptions, more, more, more…. Among the PPP Government’s top priorities is to keep the PSC happy, regardless of how much of a massive chunk comes out of the national budget. Frankly, the PSC has already received more than its share, and to give it more risks chronic constipation from overindulgence.
Contrastingly, there are those I call poor, dumb
suckers. They are believers and voters, forgotten Guyanese. They do not have a presence at the table (like the PSC); they are invisible; they can shout and cry all they want, but nobody gives a damn. The PPP is not even following the budgetary process of consulting with the Opposition, the private sector (not PSC), and interest groups, like unions. Why should the PPP give the poor a hearing, be concerned about their struggles, after all the monies spent on roads, bridges, wells and numerous other facilities? What else do these people want? How greedy can they get, and considering they do not generate jobs, their share of taxes is negligible, and they have to be carried?
Nobody in the PPP Government is making the same argument, pushing back, when it is the PSC that is involved. Then, the cash just cascades. Billions upon billions are freed from the treasury so that the PSC can benefit still more. When it is poor Guyanese, they are pushed into a corner, told to be patient, and hope for better.
I don’t know how pensioners will deal with those platitudes. Some anticipate a monthly jump from $28,000 to $40,000; realistically I think $35,000, the PPP crowing that it is a big, fat 25% increase. The small people would like to see VAT halved, perhaps eliminated, but no deal.
The working class need more money directly into their pockets for purchasing power and discretion to spend on the priorities most needed by them. I think some income tax relief does that, but nothing doing. Instead of plunking down $25,000 in one-shot deals, better for Guyanese to have a minimum of $10,000 more monthly in their paychecks to manage with dignity. The minimum wage could use a multiplier; I would recommend the gradualism of 50%. Why not, in this fastest growing economy, this oil paradise, with biggest GDP?
Guyanese circumstances are straight from the textbooks. GDP is fabulous, but now we grapple with the expanding wealth gap; it is not bloodless theory, but brutal reality. The rich are getting richer, and the poorer falling apart, and Guyana is their sparkling billboard. So, this is what will be: budget cheers (PSC); budget fears and budget tears (poor Guyanese). In Guyanese terms, the budget is bile and fry. The PPP cronies (PSC) boil the budget to their tenderness and taste; while the working people are fried over a slow fire.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall