Opposition Member of Parliament, Roysdale Forde today fiercely criticized Budget 2024 when he took the floor of the National Assembly as the first speaker in the debate. Forde told the House that Budget 2024 widens the wealth gap and neglects the crucial needs of the citizenry. Forde also argued that the budget’s failure to consult key groups like labour unions and town councils reflects the government’s disregard for community input.
Early on in his 35-minute presentation, Forde attacked the government’s pension increase from $33,000 to $36,000, labeling it insufficient amidst rising inflation. He also challenged the effectiveness of raising the Income Tax Threshold to $100,000, stating, “The budget means nothing to those earning below $100,000, especially in an oil-rich economy where the national minimum wage has remained stagnant at the miserly sum of $86,150 per month…”
Turning to inflation, Forde said Budget 2024 puts this at a mere 2 % percent for last year. The parliamentarian said he finds this hard to believe. Notably, he gave no stats to prove otherwise.
With a 27 % increase in government expenditure set for this year, Forde said he finds it even more difficult to accept that inflation is projected to increase, marginally, to 2.5% this year.
Forde said his suspicions are underpinned by a report, “Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2023”, which puts inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom at 4.4% and 6.8%, respectively in 2023; and projects that it will be 2.8% and 3.0%, respectively, in 2024.
Notably, Forde did not cite the report’s figures for the Caribbean or even Guyana. He also did not explain how the inflation rate for the US and the UK means that Guyana’s inflation stats are therefore incorrect or underestimated.
Forde said, simply put, “the Government’s figures can not be trusted.”
To understand the true impact of inflation, he said the testimonies of the ordinary men and women who face the market must be considered. “For instance, a cut of pumpkin is being sold for $1000 and sugar $300 per pound, which a year ago was $200 a cut and sugar $80 per pound,” the politician said.
Forde also cast doubt on whether the $1.146 trillion budget is the true cost. The politician said the records would show that for the past four years, the government has returned to the August House on several occasions for supplementary funds.
In 2023, he said the government returned about 6 times for funds, totaling more than $900 billion. Forde said this would take the $782 billion at the time to a grand total of $1.682 trillion.
Forde said the government clearly has a penchant for presenting budgets only to scurry back to Parliament for supplementary funds. He said this is a clear sign of poor planning but stopped short of showing if the increase in spending is equivalent to wastage.
Overall, the parliamentarian said the 2024 budget exposes that the government has no short, medium, or long-term plan for the nation.
