The Office of Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton yesterday expressed concern at the government’s plan to seek approval for an additional $40b in spending.
In a statement yesterday, Norton’s office said that this sum is on the back of the government’s massive $1.146 trillion 2024 budget.
“We, in the Opposition, will bet that this will not be its last request for a supplementary budget this year. In 2023, for instance, the government came to the National Assembly five times for extra money totaling $116b — nearly 15% more than its initial budget sum. The more the PPP government spends, the more money is lost through poor planning, mismanagement, and corruption”, the opposition lamented.
It said that there is no evidence, for instance, that the government is responding to the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for “a strong and effective public financial management system, and a robust public investment management (PIM) framework”. Norton’s office noted that the IMF has advised, for example, that government entities must correctly cost investment plans and be trained in project preparation and appraisal.
“How much of that is happening under the PPP, if any? We have seen no policy, administrative, or legislative measures from the PPP to reduce this massive loss in public funds”, the opposition said.
It added: “Instead, we are presented with a bloated budget on Budget Day and several supplementary budgets throughout the year. It is now a well-settled fact that tens of billions of dollars are lost to the PPP’s elite, friends, families and favourites, through their corruption network, and further tens of billions lost through incompetence in the form of poor planning and mismanagement”.
The opposition said that money lost through corruption and incompetence is money that could have gone to increase wages and provide cost of living relief.
“As the next government, we will increase efficiency in public spending by, for example, adopting the IMF recommendations, by revamping the public procurement system, by beefing up the Auditor General’s office, by giving teeth to the Access to Information Act, and by ensuring the PAC functions effectively. Guyana can and must do better”, the opposition said.
The government on Wednesday said it is seeking Parliament’s approval for over $40 billion in supplementary funds to shore up needed expenditure up to the end of 2024.
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr Ashni Singh, presented Financial Papers Numbers 1 and 2 of 2024 to the National Assembly totalling over $40 billion during the 84th Sitting of the Twelfth Parliament.
A release from the Ministry of Finance said that Financial Paper Num-ber 1 for which the Minis-ter is seeking approval caters for Supplementary Estimates (Current) in relation to advances made from the Contingency Fund totalling $8.6 billion for the period 2024-04-01 to 2024-07-30. Financial Paper Number 2 caters for Supplementary Estimates (Current and Capital) totalling $32.2 billion for the period ending 2024-12-31.
The release pointed out that among the major sectors seeking funding is electricity, where a total of $16 billion is being sought for the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) of which $4 billion is under Financial Paper 1 and a $12 billion Supplementary request in Financial Paper 2. It recalled that President Irfaan Ali had announced that government would be absorbing the impact of rising fuel prices on the cost of services provided by electricity companies to ensure that it does not translate to higher electricity prices for Guyanese.
Another sector under which government is seeking approval for a supplementary sum is the agriculture sector including an allocation of $9.5 billion for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) as part of its continued efforts to revitalise the industry in line with its commitment to the country. Govern-ment also aims to re-energise local communities it claims were “devastated” by the “unconscionable ac-tions” of the country’s former governing coalition – A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC).
