Your Eyewitness has written this article before Minister Singh presented his Budget 2024 yesterday, in what had to’ve been an 8-hour marathon that consumed a gallon of water!! He’s heard of Fidel Castro haranguing crowds for even longer than that, back in the day, without losing his audience. But, clearly, Singh ain’t no Fidel; he doesn’t even have a beard!!
For older folks, during the Burnham and Hoyte years, budgets were awaited with bated breaths, and even broadcast over loudspeakers to mammoth crowds in Stabroek Market Square. But if truth be told, they were either waiting to hear what new taxes were being imposed, or what the latest devaluation would be!! Your Eyewitness still remembers the screams of agony that followed Hoyte’s massive devaluation in 1989. It sparked the greatest revival of Sparrow’s “Ten to one is murdah”!!
Well, back to the present, we’ve already been informed by the VP that there’s gonna be no new taxes!! So, no flutters from that quarter!!
So, what’d we hear yesterday? Since your Eyewitness wasn’t no fly on the wall when the Minister’s team were crunching and allocating their numbers, all he can do is connect the dots that are already in the public domain.
Firstly, Budgets have to state how much funds the Government expect to receive; where the funds are coming from; and then state how those funds are gonna be spent. Today, let’s deal with the money coming in. In our case, there’s gonna be mo’ money than ever before, from taxes that were collected by the GRA from our salaries and business profits and placed into the Consolidated Fund, since there’s been so many more businesses, with increased employment. So, right up front, let’s understand that MOST of what the Government’s gonna be spending comes from our hard-earned paychecks and profits – even before we received what crumbs were left!!
By now we also know that huge chunks of funds gonna be taken from the Natural Resource Fund – where our 14.5% of oil profits are placed. With more oil pumping this year, the Govt’s gonna have mo US greenbacks to spend. Finally, there are the loans we’ll be taking to fund some of our projects – like the new DHB. At this point, you may be wondering, dear reader, why we gotta borrow money when we’re the fastest growing economy on planet Earth! And that’s a point we hafta start appreciating: when you GOT money, that’s when folk like to lend you money!! They figure you’re a better risk!
And it’s better to take the money and spend it NOW – and repay it later with money that’s worth less!! Tomorrow, we’ll deal with how the good minister decided the Government’s gonna spend OUR money!!
…and no scrutiny??
Looks like your Eyewitness is the only person – yes, dear readers, he’s a PERSON!! – who remembers that back in 2000, after the PNC beat, looted, burnt and stuck pins into Janet dolls, the Constitution was changed to give them and the Opposition real-time powers to scrutinize governmental spending. The Old PAC – which is still around – deals with spending from the past. But by the time they do their thing, the horse has looong bolted and never been caught!!
Your Eyewitness is talking about the four Parliamentary Sectoral Committees (PSC) that cover EVERY aspect of the Government’s activities, and the Chairs of these committees are rotated every year. So, at any point, the Opposition Chairs of two PSCs have the authority to summon anyone in the Government – save the President – and interrogate them on where our money’s going!!
So, why’s the Opposition blathering on ad nauseum that the Government’s doing their own thing with no crudity? If this is happening, isn’t it because they’ve lapsed in their duties?
