Consultation, feedback critical to Budget 2025 preparation – Finance Minister

As the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government continues preparations for its fifth national budget in the new year, engagements with stakeholder groups and civil society bodies are ongoing.
This is according to the Senior Minister with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh. Already, the Finance Ministry has received budget submissions from various Government agencies and held consultations with various stakeholders as part of the 2025 budget cycle.

Dr Singh told Guyana Times that these engagements play a major role in drafting out the 2025 Budget.
“That’s an approach that we’ve constantly and always embraced as a government and as a party. And so that generates – that ongoing engagement with stakeholder groups and with the public at large – a lot of valuable information and feedback that serves as input into the budget process in terms of relative priorities – what people consider to be important to their well-being. What their concerns are, what they would like to see us do more of, what they would perhaps like to see us do less of or to do differently,” he noted.
According to Dr Singh, the Government is constantly accumulating that feedback, and consolidating and processing it to determine how it would inform budgetary priorities going forward.
“And so, we’ve been doing that on an ongoing basis… We’re not the kind of government that will have a “budget consultation” for the purpose of a photo opportunity. We’re the kind of government that has ongoing consultations with every stakeholder group. And so, that itself never ends. There isn’t a single engagement that we would call a budget consultation. So, we’ve had numerous rounds of engagements with various stakeholder groups…
“So, the engagement with stakeholder groups and with the public at large continues. We continue to receive valuable information which we will incorporate and we are incorporating in our preparations for Budget 2025,” Dr Singh posited.
Without disclosing any insights as to what Budget 2025 will have for citizens, the finance minister assured that it will continue the PPP/C Administration’s commitment to improving the lives of all Guyanese and creating opportunities for citizens to thrive.
“In the People’s Progressive Party Government, you will not have major shocks and major surprises because we outline what we will do in our term in office in our manifesto and our successive budgets implemented that manifesto. And so, from a policy predictability standpoint, one almost knows in advance what we will be doing,” he stated.
The Finance Minister further explained that during this process, they examine the manifesto to determine what promises they have delivered on, what remains to be fulfilled and what areas outside of the manifesto the government can implement.
“So, a lot of work has already been done and a lot of work is being done right now to get us to a point where we would’ve completed Budget 2025 and be ready to present it to the Parliament. So, this is a very intense period for us in the Ministry of Finance…”
“I am looking forward to us completing this work and bringing the budget to Parliament so that we can get on with the business of implementing the budget and delivering and continuing to deliver good-quality public service to the people of Guyana and continue to deliver the things that matter to the people of Guyana to improve the quality of life that they enjoy,” Minister Singh noted.
The 2024 Budget, which amounted to $1.146 trillion, set out a comprehensive plan for improving the livelihoods of Guyanese citizens. Budget 2025 is expected to be presented early in the new year and will give effect to many of the measures President Dr Irfaan Ali had announced in October that would help with the cost of living. One of the key measures announced was a one-time cash grant of $200,000 for every household, which subsequently became a one-time cash grant of $100,000 for every adult Guyanese.
In addition to removing the residency requirement for receipt of the cash grant, the Government also extended the age eligibility. Initially, that cutoff age was set at January 2024. But now, Guyanese who are 18 years and older by January 2025 are qualified to receive the one-off payment.
Another significant measure was the President’s announcement of the Government’s plans to raise the public sector minimum wage to $100,000 per month by the end of 2025. According to Ali, this will be added to the increases for public servants that the PPP/C Administration has rolled out since 2020 including the special adjustments to the salaries of certain categories of teachers, public healthcare workers and members of the Disciplined Forces. Those measures had benefited over 18,000 public sector employees.