The budget outlining the Government’s plans, programmes and expenditures for 2023 reflects Guyana’s increasing income from its rapidly expanding petroleum industry. At $781.9 billion, as against $552.9 billion for 2022, this budget is 41 percent larger than 2022. The 2022 budget was in turn larger that the 2021 budget by 44.3 percent. This budget was facilitated by an economic growth of 62.3 percent in 2022. The 2022 budget was facilitated by a growth rate in 2021 of 19.9 percent.
It is safe to say, notwithstanding the sniping on the sidelines, that Guyana is on the move. The health sector’s budget this year is $85 billion, up from $73 billion in 2022, whilst the education allocation is $95 billion, up from $74 billion in 2022. Each of these sums for 2023 is larger than entire budgets of the recent past and attest to the transformative impact of an exponentially growing economy. When complaints are made that there is little to show in the budget to alleviate poverty, these expenditures are ignored. Yet, improved medical and educational facilities directly benefit the poor in substantial ways.