$680.8M spent on SLED programme since February – Min Persaud

– additional $250M to be injected to expand project targets

The $61 billion supplementary paper passed last week in the National Assembly included a $250 million allocation to “facilitate the expansion of targeted initiatives”, in a move aimed at continuing the effective rollout of the Sustainable Livelihoods and Entrepreneurship Development (SLED) programme across the country.
With the Government requesting an extra $250 million for the SLED programme, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Parliamentarian Volda Lawrence had questioned how much of the $1.5 billion that was previously received in the budget in February, had been spent as of June 30.
It had been announced earlier this year that approximately 5000 persons would benefit from the SLED programme for 2023. Minister within the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Anand Persaud, last week gave details on how much had been spent.
“To date, $680.8 million was spent through SLED… this is money being spent on entrepreneurs, persons with small businesses and vulnerable individuals, single parents, etc,” Persaud responded, adding that the Government has either gone directly to the people to register persons for the SLED grant or persons have come directly to them.
“That is being done not in an ad hoc manner. Forms have to be filled out… forms are filled out in various regions. And these accounts are being audited.” The Minister further said that the SLED programme is being rolled out in all 10 regions.
In the 2023 budget, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh had announced that an additional $13.5 billion was budgeted for the SLED programme, the National Pathway Workers, and the Community Infrastructure and Improvement projects.
The Guyana Government had injected a whopping $1.8 billion to develop small businesses in all 10 administrative regions for 2023. This sum accounts for two separate avenues to support small business financing.
The first was the Small Business Bureau (SBB) grant, which falls under the auspices of the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Ministry. It was previously reported that over 700 applications were outstanding, given the meticulous requirements to confirm eligibility.
Based on the grant regulations, recipients can receive anywhere between $500,000 and $150,000 under this initiative. However, the business must be compliant with all the requirements, including being registered with the Deeds and Commercial Registry, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), and the National Insurance Scheme (NIS). A business plan must also be submitted.
The SLED programme was redesigned by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government to allow for smaller business grants to be issued to a larger pool of people. This is after several members of the former Government were flagged during an audit that found that millions in State funds were in fact wasted.
A total of $760 million was disbursed under the SLED programme between 2015 and 2020, in increments of $115 million, $40 million, $100 million, $150 million, $250 million, and $105 million, respectively. In April 2023, prominent Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) were fingered in a damning forensic audit report into the former APNU/AFC Government’s SLED programme.