Budget 2023 will address ‘irritants’ and contain ‘attractive measures’ – Finance Minister

Guyana’s 2023 national budget will contain “attractive measures” to bring relief to Guyanese citizens and will focus on addressing “irritants” or things they are most concerned about, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh has said.

“…people want immediate improvement to their circumstances, their day to day living experience,” such as just getting their street fixed, Dr Singh stated.

In blunt fashion, he described impassable roads in some communities and poor drainage and irrigation that results in flooding, causing considerable losses for citizens.

“Community infrastructure is a big bugbear.

“We recognise the importance of addressing things that matter to people most,” Dr Singh said in an interview with the News Room on Friday. He noted that President Irfaan Ali and his Ministers are constantly in communities so they can understand the needs of people. This is no accident, he said, as engaging with people on the ground has been a distinguishing feature of PPP governments, and moreso this one led by President Ali.

“There are still many communities in Guyana where the basic infrastructure is still very much lacking,” Dr Singh said, noting that this was exacerbated by five years of deliberate neglect or pure political vindictiveness on the part of the former APNU+AFC government.

“So, there is a big need for community infrastructure to be improved and upgraded,” Dr Singh stated.

“In many rural communities, in many villages that you go to in Guyana, people want, to begin with, a passable street or road that they can send their children to school and their children don’t have to take off their school booths or tie their laces around their neck because they are walking through muddy waters or potholes to get to school.

“In this modern day and age, no community should have to endure that and no school child should have to endure that – and that’s our position,” Dr Singh stated.

He said the goal is to upgrading community infrastructure to make at least a minimum standard because the government “may not be able to build a world class highway in every backstreet of every village.”

The idea, he said, is to bring community infrastructure up to at least a certain point that people enjoy easy access.

He said that flooding has historically been a big problem for people and given that Guyana is grappling with rising sea levels and more extreme and more erratic weather patterns, the government is committed to doing everything possible to facilitate better drainage so that homes and farmlands can be spared.

Dr Singh acknowledged that people are not extravagant in their expectations that those irritants will be removed.

“So a large part of the budget will be about addressing the main irritants – the things that affect people in their day-to-day lives.”