December, by Guyanese tradition, is a time when everyone thinks of Christmas and an atmosphere of expectancy envelops the society. This was so even in the troublous years of the 1960s and 1970s.
But this December a strange phenomenon has occurred. People are thinking more about the Budget than about Christmas and this is manifested among the business community which has always treated December and the holidays as the best time of the year for business.
This year, as if to express the business community’s budgetary worries, the stores are not as decorated as in former years. The ubiquitous Christmas trees, holly, images of Father Christmas or Santa Claus, and the colourful hangings are absent in many shops, and they are rather thin in others.
Business folks are hoping for a surge of bustling activity within the next few days; even though many believe that this would not compensate for the many months of downturn in business.
But why this worry about the Budget? Our leaders, meaning the President and members of his Cabinet, have all said that the 2017 Budget is a good one and is good for Guyana, present and future. And the State media have wasted no time in pointing out all the good things in the Budget. These good things are of the nature of promises and imagination as many citizens are not too optimistic that they would actually happen. The two best practical budgetary measures are the income tax threshold being increased by $5000 to $60,000 and the Old Age Pension being increased by $800 to $19,000 per month.
But there are unfortunately many more negatives than positives. There are many proposals in the Budget which militate against society. For example, putting on VAT on electricity and water supplies may indeed not affect very small families directly; but will certainly affect them indirectly since the small shops from which they buy will have to increase their prices to cover the increased electricity bill. And as to water, one has to be afraid that small restaurants and food shops will be forced to economise on consumption which in turn can affect the hygiene of the service they offer.
Another very important negative of the Budget is that it has done nothing to stimulate the positive generation of wealth. Areas of wealth–generation have been completely neglected or forgotten. For example, agriculture, both small-scale garden farmers and producers of cash crops as well the nationally important economic sugar and rice industries have been literally ignored. This is a serious deficiency in national budgetary considerations.
To diminish or not to stimulate these industries would cause unemployment, less money in circulation and the lessening of a source of foreign exchange. The makers of governmental policies in respect of agriculture are literally shooting themselves in the foot.
In other areas of wealth generation for society, especially mining and commerce, the same trend has occurred.
One of the greatest disincentives to wealth generation is massive taxation. This is a fact well-known in all societies, irrespective of the political doctrine they follow. In the 2017 Budget there are dozens of new taxes imposed and many are fearful of the heavy burden this will add to both citizens and businesses.
Against this background, the main stakeholders – the business community, trade unions, political opposition; who in parliament are equal to the government except for one parliamentary vote, and the international community – must step up pressure on the Administration to have a serious rethink about the Budget.
The Budget Debates have ended and the consideration of the Estimates are about to begin. At this late hour it may be in the nation’s interest for the Government and the Opposition to agree to suspend Parliament for a short while. The Government should then take the initiative of calling a meeting of the Opposition and other stakeholders and try to have agreed positions on the various controversial issues, including the many new taxes being imposed on citizens.
From the way it looks, citizens are expected to face extremely tough times. Will the Government compromise in the nation’s interest?
