Volda Lawrence wants budget to be presented before new financial year

Opposition Parliamentarian Volda Lawrence has called for Guyana’s National Budget to be presented before the start of the financial year, stating that doing otherwise results in challenges.

Lawrence was the penultimate speaker on the Opposition side for the ongoing debate on the 2023 National Budget.

And during her detailed presentation before the National Assembly, she contended that an early budget should be a focus of the government, as was a priority for the APNU+AFC coalition while in office.

Doing so, she said, allows funds to be released and spent sooner.

“This is even more important given the substantial increase in the size of the budget,” Lawrence explained.

Aside from her call, the Opposition MP raised her concerns about the 2023 National Budget presented by Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh.

Though the government assured people that the sizable allocations and budgetary measures outlined would provide much-needed relief to people, Lawrence disagreed.

“Some measures will be of little to no benefit to poor people,” Lawrence said.

Among those measures she believes will not provide relief to this group of people is the government’s decision to remove Value Added Tax (VAT) on the importation of some electric vehicles.

She also said the “fiddling of the income tax threshold every year” does little to leave more money in most people’s pockets. She believes that better measures can be implemented to guarantee that workers get more money annually.