December, by Guyanese tradition, is a time when everyone thinks of Christmas and an atmosphere of expectancy envelops the society.
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 have always treated December and the holidays as the best time of the year for business.
To compound the situation, history was made in our Parliament when the Guyana Police Force was sent in to remove an elected member after he was suspended by the Speaker. But what unfolded was frightening as our women parliamentarians were pushed and shoved and one hit by Police as they attempted to carry out their instructions.
This incident has now left ordinary folks dumbfounded as to where our country is heading. As a result of this uncertainty, many have expressed worry and are curtailing their spending. Additionally, the laying off of thousands of sugar workers has further compounded the situation. This, therefore, means that thousands of families will have their spending capacity reduced significantly, if not all together.
So while business folks are hoping for a surge of bustling activity within the next few days, it will be a tough reality and may 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 Budget is a good one and is good for Guyana, present and future. And the State media entities 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. For starters, the income tax threshold did not increase, and the Old Age Pension has been increased by $500. The expected restoration of subsidies to pensioners did not become a reality nor was the expected $10,000 school grant reinstated. VAT on electricity and water supplies was not rescinded. As pointed out by President of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), Shyam Nokta, it, therefore, means that this will continue to significantly, and negatively, impact the country’s manufacturing sector.
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 more so sugar, both small-scale garden farmers and producers of cash crops as well as the nationally important economic sugar and rice industries have been literally ignored. This is a serious deficiency in national budgetary considerations. Sugar workers were promised land after estates were closed. It has been one year since Wales Estate closed, but workers are yet to see this become a reality.
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.
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 is slated to be passed today after the conclusion of consideration of the Estimates. At this late hour, it may be in the nation’s interest for the Government and the Opposition to take the initiative of calling a meeting – possibly including other stakeholders – and try to have agreed positions on the various controversial issues. From the way it looks, citizens are expected to face extremely tough times in 2018.
