Govt working to deliver emergency budget next week – Chief Whip

With the budgets of 16 constitutional agencies passed on Tuesday, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is currently working to complete and bring its emergency budget to the House by next week.

This was revealed by Government Chief Whip and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Gail Teixeira on Tuesday, in an interview with this publication following the first sitting of the 12th Parliament at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).
“Not this week, obviously. We were going to meet Thursday because the Government made no changes to the constitutional bodies. So, it wasn’t necessary to have a sitting on Thursday, because there were no objections,” Teixeira said in response to questions on when the nation can expect the budget.
“The Fiscal Management and Accountability Act (allows) the Minister either support or amend the budget as he sees fit. He did not make any changes to any of the items. So, it wasn’t necessary to come back on Thursday.”
During Tuesday’s sitting, Public Works Minister, Juan Anthony Edghill, had assumed responsibility for the Finance Minister portfolio and presented the current and capital estimates for the constitutional bodies. No Finance Minister has been appointed as yet by the new Administration.
The budgets for these constitutional agencies were approved in the absence of the APNU/AFC Opposition members. They had walked out the sitting following the opening remarks by newly elected Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir.
“So, we suspended the standing orders to allow us to go through them. And they were passed. So that will be added to the budget figure. We’re working towards the budget coming out in the second week of September. We’ve adjourned for a date to be fixed,” Teixeira explained.
Soon after taking office, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government had announced that a national emergency budget is likely to be presented with a significant focus on expenditure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Guyana.
During a previous press conference, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had explained that the normal budget cycle is 179 days from the day the circular goes out to the various agencies to the date of presentation in Parliament.
“But we have made it clear that we want the budget prepared and we’re working towards preparing a budget in three weeks – 21 days. So the 179 days in the normal cycle will have to come down to about three weeks,” Jagdeo stated.
He had pointed out that the country and the help that persons and the various sectors need to reboot the economy cannot be made available to them unless there is an emergency budget to provide the funds.
According to Jagdeo, while the budget will include funding for critical areas to keep the country afloat, funds to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic is a top priority. In fact, he disclosed that frontline workers, especially those in the medical field, can look forward to being adequately rewarded.
“We found that a lot of the people on the frontline – the sad stories from the doctors and the nurses who are dealing with the pandemic and they’re on the frontline, they feel that they are not adequately equipped with PPEs nor are they rewarded for this. I want to assure them that the President [Dr Irfaan Ali] has indicated that in the next budget there will be an appropriate recognition of their work. That will be done in the next budget,” Jagdeo had said. (G3)