Minutes after the presentation of the $1.146 trillion 2024 budget in the National Assembly, President Irfaan Ali last evening said that in his estimate it will facilitate the return of $100b back into the economy and the pockets of the people of the country.
Ali in a live broadcast on his Facebook page last evening said that through the 2024 budget, his government had an opportunity to showcase its model of development and to outline a clear strategy “through which we are building national prosperity and through which we are creating opportunities for every single Guyanese regardless of which region you live in, regardless of which sector you are in.”
In demonstrating the net effect that will place more than $100b back into the economy Ali said, “In my estimation, approximately $100b will be put back into the pockets of people, into the economy that will stimulate spending, that will bolster income and that will improve conditions of living and of course address issues of cost of living.”
According to him, budget 2024 gives a “holistic overview” of Guyana’s development trajectory and the important projects that will continue the transformative agenda of the country and economy. “Indeed budget 2024 is about staying the course while building national prosperity.”
He pointed out that all of the measures in the budget are aimed at increasing disposable income, “putting more money in the pockets of people” as well as bolstering income for vulnerable groups, and improving the system of governance and the provision of services for Guyana. ‘These are the challenges that we confront and the measures address these challenges, the measures target young people, women, children, pensioners…”
While breaking down the budget and highlighting specific measures per sector, he noted that he was pleased that budget 2024 will continue to keep the taxes on fuel at zero. “So that $40b of taxes that should have been collected will now be placed back into the pockets of people and into the economy, so this measure will save our people, our country, the ordinary man, the industries, the private sector $40b.”
Cost of living
To address the cost of living issues, Ali said, that in 2023 “we dealt with pensioners, we dealt with persons living with disabilities, we dealt with farmers” while for 2024 the government is setting aside $7b “for cost of living adjustment for these vulnerable groups also.”
He continued, “So $7b is set aside to directly address and cushion the impact of cost of living as we analyze what is taking place globally… Whilst we have been able to contain our inflation because of the measures we have implemented in 2023, global and regional inflation is creating havoc and we will be importing a lot of that inflation into our country.”
Ali then pointed out that in 2024, they are also setting aside “policy space and room, fiscal space and room” to negotiate with the banking sector a specific tool “where the government will give them incentives, just like we did in housing that saw the interest rate reducing to 3.5%, we are now going to implement measures to target small businesses who are applying for a loan up to $5m in the commercial bank to make it more accessible, to create an easier framework for them to get that loan and to have a significant reduction in the interest rate.”
Turning to sports and recreational facilities, Ali stated that the government wants more people to become active and involved in sports along with young people being able to benefit from the opportunities to make the national team for varying sports “We have taken a decision in budget 2024 that we are removing all VAT and duty on sports equipment so every single sports equipment and sport gear in our country will now be duty-free and VAT free and that is an important measure to continue to push sport as an important tool of transformation.”
Pointing out that budget 2024 will now take the income tax threshold which was increased from $65,000 to $85,000 “since we came to office, we are now increasing that threshold to $100,000 monthly”, he stated, “So every single person who is working a hundred thousand dollars and less you will have tax free income, you will take home all of it, these are the measures. This will cost almost $5b but we are doing this in the interest of you the people.”
He said, that the majority of Guyana will be “rejoicing” except some who have the ability but not the “conscience” to acknowledge “what the government is doing.”
The President said that Guyana’s prosperity is coming at a “faster pace than anywhere else in the world to every single home.”
