By Antonio Dey
Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh yesterday announced that the budget for this year amounts to a historic, whopping $1.146 trillion when compared to $781. 9 billion last year.
He made the announcement during his marathon budget presentation themed “Staying the course building prosperity for all” at the 71st sitting of the National Assembly that saw frequent, sharp clashes between him and opposition hecklers.
According to Singh, Guyana’s real gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to grow by 34.3 per cent this year, while the non-oil economy is projected to rise by 11.9 per cent.
In the fiscal plan under the category macro-economic highlights, sectors such as agriculture, forestry and fishing are projected to increase by 10.4 per cent.
“The sugar growing subsector is projected to accelerate its recovery with a rigid growth of 66.1 per cent”, the minister told the National Assembly.
The rice industry is expected to grow by 6.2 per cent while other crops are projected to achieve an expansion of 11.6 per cent. The forestry sector is projected to record a growth of 3.9 per cent.
Turning his attention to the extractive industries, the mining and quarrying sectors are projected to increase by 43.6 per cent.
Support services in the oil and gas sectors are expected to expand by an estimated 44.7 per cent.
The other mining and quarrying subsectors are projected to increase by 19.3 per cent.
The gold and bauxite mining subsectors are expected to grow this year by 15.7 per cent and 57.2 per cent respectively.
Sugar manufacturing is expected to increase by 66.1 per cent according to the minister.
The construction sector is projected to grow by 23.4 per cent, Singh disclosed.
Budget measures
The finance minister announced that the income tax threshold will rise to $100,000 per month from the year of income 2024.
This figure was $85,000 last year and $75,000 in 2022. He detailed that this year 13,000 persons will be freed from paying income taxes, which will result in approximately a $4.8 billion increase in disposable incomes for workers.
The Minister revealed that the Ministry of Education’s “Because We Care” cash grant will rise from $35,000 to $40,000 per student. The uniform allowance of $5,000 per student remains.
He told the National Assembly that this budgetary provision would place an additional $1 billion in the hands of parents who have school-aged children.
When coupled with the uniform voucher allowance of $5000, school children will receive a total of $45,000, the Minister asserted.
To support University of Guyana students, Singh said that his administration will be commencing the first phase of eliminating outstanding loans owed by graduates of the premier tertiary institution.
The finance minister announced that the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) minimum pension will increase from $35,000 to $43, 025 per month.
This will amount to an additional $2.6b in disposable income which is expected to benefit over 27,000 persons according to Singh.
He said that the government will increase the current minimum pension paid to survivors by the NIS from $17,500 to $21,537 per month.
“This will make an additional $600 million of disposable income available to over 12,000 persons”, Singh announced.
The removal of duty and value-added tax (VAT) on sports equipment and technology is also on the cards according to the Minister.
The Government according to him will remove VAT and duty on essential cell phone accessories, such as chargers, and charging cables, along with phone components for repairs.
Life and Medical Insurance will witness a reduction according to the subject minister as taxpayers will be allowed a deduction from their chargeable income for premiums paid for life and medical insurance up to a maximum of 10 per cent of their income or $50,000 monthly [whichever is lower] according to Singh.
A $3000 voucher towards the cost of an eye test is slated for over 205,000 school children and 76,000 pensioners at a cost of over $840 million.
Those who require spectacles are eligible for a $15,000 voucher towards the cost of the spectacles.
This measure is estimated to cost $955 million.
The fiscal plan is slated to cater for women between the ages of 21 and 65 for cervical cancer testing. They are entitled to a $8,000 voucher for testing, the Minister revealed.
“This intervention will cost an estimated $2.8 billion”, he told the National Assembly.
Senior citizens are expected to see an increase in old age pension from $33,000 to $36,000 per month, which according to Singh will place an additional $2.7 billion of disposable income in the hands of 76,000 pensioners.
He said that the government will collaborate with commercial banks to lower the interest rates on loans up to $5 million.
It was announced that the government will extend the application of freight cost adjustment to compute import taxes and to combat the increase in shipping costs for 12 months at a cost of over $6 billion.
The Government will maintain the zero excise tax on fuel according to Singh.
“At current, prices this measure results in the Government foregoing an estimated $40 billion annually’, he explained.
The finance minister said that “$7 billion will be allocated for measures to be determined after consultations with stakeholders, aimed at containing the impact of price increases”.
According to him, the government will continue its expansion of the part-time job programme.
On this note, he informed the National Assembly that $10 billion would be allocated towards the expansion and continuation of the part-time job programme.
After the Finance Minister’s Budget Presentation, several Members of the Parliamentary Opposition expressed disappointment as they said that they expected that the fiscal plan would have catered for the “small man”.
The budget debate is scheduled to begin on Monday, January 22nd.
