McCoy debunks claims Budget 2026 caters for the elites

…urges citizens to guard against misinformation ahead of budget debates

Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister (PM) Kwame McCoy, has debunked claims from the opposition that Budget 2026 caters only for the elites.
“Those criticisms for me, are always very hollow. And I’m not saying that lightly, because when you examine them, [they’re] just buzzwords and phrases, without any true meaning to it, without being able to demonstrate where there has been the absence – a list of any group that [has] been missed in this process of development,” McCoy contended during an episode of the Starting Point podcast aired on Sunday. “Where are the persons without the opportunity of accessing loans at the bank, or mortgages or any of our services that we offer as a Government?” he asked. McCoy pointed out that every policy, programme and measure provided for in Budget 2026 – as with previous budgets of the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Administration – benefit every citizen, not just supporters of the governing administration.
“Who are these friends, families and favourites? The friends, families and favourites who stand to benefit from us in this Government are every single citizen of this country. When we talk about, for example, increasing pensions, it doesn’t go to Kwame’s grandmother; and the person who lives down the road’s grandmother doesn’t get it. It doesn’t go to the elderly woman in Crabwood Creek and misses the elderly woman in, let’s say, Campbellville or Kitty. It applies and it reaches every single person,” he asserted. “When we talk about the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant, who does it go to? It goes to every citizen’s child in this country, the children of our country. It is not about whether your child supported the PPP, the PNC (people’s National Congress) or they’ve gone with WIN (We Invest in Nationhood). It is about every single child and that is what it means to be a Government that caters for everyone,” he added. According to McCoy, this ‘catchphrase’ from the opposition is “weary, old and tired” and was clearly rejected by the population at the 2025 polls. “We are confident about our approach and we have seen the people of this country demonstrating through their votes that the Government can be trusted to take care of every single category of individuals in this country,” he posited. Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance Dr Ashni Singh on Monday last presented the Government’s $1.558 trillion budget for the year ahead – the first budget of the second term of President Dr Irfaan Ali.
Budget debates are now set to begin today, after which, parliamentarians will deal with the examination of the estimates – where key expenditures come under scrutiny.

Misinformation and mischief
As these processes, which are livestreamed by the Parliament Office, are about to commence, the Minister is urging persons to be wary of misinformation from the opposition benches. “You will hear a lot of noises. And by the way, we are in the midst of a situation where people are certainly out with their machinery which provides rapid disinformation and misinformation to our people. So, you have to be able to decipher for yourself what is truth, what is facts and what is intended to be mischief,” he urged. “You will see a lot of people dress up with nice suits, perhaps much more fancy than I can look, and their nice lipsticks, and their hair well-groomed and they will speak much more eloquently than I can, and they sound, you know, with a little accent, a bit from the British, a bit from the West, wherever. And they will try to convince you, this budget has nothing for you…But you have to think through the motives,” the Minister added. Nevertheless, even as the opposition continues to criticise the budget, Minister McCoy reminded that the Government has a job to defend its policies and programmes. He emphasised that the Government’s goal is to ensure every citizen has the opportunity to live a better life…have the means of accessing jobs and better paying jobs, to make sure that you have the opportunity to establish your small businesses and that you have the support for that small business development and to make sure that you, at the end of the day, can have more disposable income to spend on your family and you’re able to generate wealth as we want you to do, wealth creation for families, so that you can really be part of a society in which you are truly a beneficiary of all that it has to offer. And that is the crux of the matter. And we will be there defending every bit of the budget,” he posited.