Earlier today Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan took just about five hours to outline the coalition government’s fiscal plan for Guyana in 2019 as he delivered his National Budget speech.
However, Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo does not believe that the government has managed to address critical matters facing the nation. In fact, he said, the government’s plan is wholly disappointing.
Speaking to the media, he said that there has been no shift in the policies the general public has been complaining about.
Jagdeo said, “This was not a budget; it was sterile and full of platitudes hoping that they can deceive the people of this country by talking for a very long period.”
Jagdeo went as far to call the budget “visionless”, noting that it provides no clear path for the welfare of the Guyanese people. He said too that there are voids in the creation of jobs and crime fighting strategies. Jagdeo stressed that there is also no hope that the government will address white collar crime like the rampant corruption in public offices.
Meanwhile, though the opposition did not attend budget consultations, Jagdeo lamented that none of the recommendations he offered through the media were included in the budget. The Opposition Leader said that, at the very least, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic thought that the government would have heeded its call to address and reduce taxation.
While Jagdeo said he was struggling to find a good thing to say about the budget, he acknowledged Minister Jordan’s “new tie” and and said that his overall attire was good.
