Cash grants part of wider range of policies aimed at lasting economic empowerment of Guyanese – Finance Minister

…assures of more targeted financial support for citizens in the future
…urges Guyanese to maximise on opportunities available

Even as it assures of more targeted financial support for citizens in the future, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has reiterated that cash grants are just one part of a broader range of policies that are aimed at uplifting all Guyanese. This is according to Senior Minister with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh. During an appearance on the latest episode of the Starting Point podcast, which came out on Sunday, Dr Singh assured that there will more targeted support for citizens in the future. “We have said on repeated occasions that our objective is for national prosperity to be translated into community and household and individual prosperity. And so, cash grants will be a part of a much bigger and wider range of policies aimed ultimately at lasting economic empowerment of every single Guyanese citizen.”
“So, we certainly don’t hold the view that cash grants are a bad thing. In fact, we are the Government that introduced the COVID cash grant for every household. We are the Government that gave a cash grant to every adult Guyanese [in] 2024 into 2025. And we’re also the Government that has said that we will over the course of the next five years, you know, provide cash grants on future occasions,” he posited.

Targeted financial support
According to the Finance Minister, that targeted financial support to the Guyanese population is part of a comprehensive range of policies that seeks to ensure every citizen has the skills, tools and opportunities to build sustainable wealth in the long term. “And this is what every leader in the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government and every leader in our party has been at pains to emphasise that we introduced cash grants, like I said and over the course of time, we will provide cash grants to the Guyanese population, but that will certainly not be the only means through which we will bring and deliver upliftment and improvement to the lives of the Guyanese people. Because what we want ultimately is for every single Guyanese person to be able to take care of themselves, to be able to get the right skills that they’re able to earn and get a good quality job and to be able to take care of themselves. And moreover, not only to take care of themselves, but to be able also to build household and individual wealth,” he asserted. The Finance Minister pointed out that already, Guyanese are seeing the benefits from this approach, with over 50,000 persons becoming homeowners over the last five years; the creation of job opportunities that has resulted in more than 70,000 persons working now than previously; increased domestic production especially in the agriculture sector and a series of other interventions aimed at containing the rising cost of living, among other interventions that have put more disposal income into the hands of citizens. “So, I believe that we have outlined and implemented a policy matrix that is designed to protect the Guyanese consumers and of course, raise their real incomes over time,” Dr Singh asserted.

Era of opportunity
But even with tremendous progress in financially empowering Guyanese and with more citizens living differently today, Minister Singh contended that the PPP/C Government is yet to achieve its ultimate objective: ensuring every single Guyanese person being able to participate in, contribute to and benefit from what is taking place in the country today. To this end, the Finance Minister reminded citizens, especially young people, that they are living in an era of opportunity, given the unprecedented economic transformation that Guyana is currently undergoing. As such, he encouraged them to equip themselves with the necessary tools and skills to take advantage of these opportunities that are available in every sector across the country. He pointed out that Government has already put the policy framework in place to enable Guyanese to grasp these opportunities. These include a range of financial sector reforms that now makes access to loans easier with one of the lowest interest rates in the region, and this will be further complemented with the impending roll out of the special SME (Small and Medium-size Enterprise) development bank next year.

Most fortunate generation
“Today’s cohort of young Guyanese are the most fortunate generation ever to have lived. And so, bearing in mind the abundance of opportunity, what I would urge young people to do is to consider where they see themselves in this era…because you have to do something… You decide what you’re good at and what you like, and you equip yourselves to do it and you do it and you do it well. And so, that’s what I think young people should do. And that may mean investing some time and some effort to get the right kinds of skills. It may mean saving up some of your disposable income, doing some jobs in the interim to make sure that you earn some income and save some income to invest in whatever it is that you want to do. And it also, I believe, requires adaptability.” “In this era, you can’t be fixed about doing one thing and doing it for the rest of your life and doing it the same way that you’ve always done it… You have to be prepared to be adaptable, to be agile, to be nimble, to change course, where changing courses is what is needed… There’s a demand for everything. If you’re a plumber, you’re an electrician…[We] can’t find enough people. We’re struggling now to find enough people because there’s so much demand now for skills. So, my advice is, whatever it is that you’re doing, do it well. Excel at it. You will develop a reputation, and that reputation will bring with it premium earnings,” the Minister stressed.