Dear Editor,
Reference is made to news reports that the Government of Guyana is seeking Parliament’s approval for over 192 million USD (40 billion GYD) in supplementary funds to shore up needed expenditure up to the end of 2024.
Earlier this year, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service Dr Ashni Singh had submitted a national budget of 5.5 billion USD, which was the largest in the Guyana’s history. Nota bene, the currently budget is 3.5 times larger than the last pre-oil budget of 1.58 billion USD passed under the Coalition government in 2020.
The record 2024 budget is in part financed by emptying the Natural Resource Fund, Guyana’s sovereign wealth fund. The National Assembly approved this record budget as requested in February 2024. Now, merely six months later Dr Ashni Singh comes back to parliament demanding a supplementary budget of 192 million USD, which amounts to 3.5% of the 2024 national budget.
How come the Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service did not foresee this development? Is this the result of bad planning? Did he check whether there was room for savings or reallocation of funds from other budget posts to make up for the budget shortfall? In my humble opinion, this is what one would expect from a de facto finance minister, who should be running his portfolio with caution and prudence. In fact, any Guyanese person and family has to operate on this basis to accommodate unexpected expenses, which may occur during the year.
Sincerely,
Andre Brandli, PhD
Professor
LMU Munich