The measures in Budget 2000
What the people say
Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Saisnarine Kowlessar, last Monday presented the country a $62.6 billion national budget. The views of the man/woman-in-the-street follow: Claudette Hinckson - housewife: 'The budget is more pressure on the land. There is no relief in it for me. I lost my job at Sanata Textiles where I worked for years because of privatisation. I have a 16-year-old attending secondary school and keeping him in school is very expensive but I have no alternative. In addition, as a teenager he needs a pocket piece. I get up in the morning I hear I got to pay $200 for examinations. For the past two years I have been working on and off at domestic jobs but even those jobs are not easy to come by. We need jobs. When my son leaves school soon where will he find employment? I have not reached the age of retirement and I am tired of washing and scrubbing. We need jobs, industries. When we were laid off we were assured that the Chinese would have been returning under new management but they have not returned. I am willing to work. I think about selling at the roadside but at every street corner somebody is selling. My living is plain survival.' David Yhann, Snr - businessman: 'In the unstable situation that we are in at present I do not think we could have had a better budget. There is a lot being done for the poor--no new rates and taxes and pensioners are getting more money. Government cannot do better than that. I do hope that later on, if Guyanese people can come together, work together, share together, we can have a better economic future. Right now the business sector has to provide for itself. Manufacturers, too, have to get their act together to produce quality products. It should not be a case of only waiting on government but helping themselves and doing what could be done. All businesses want at the cheapest cost is quick money, quick this and quick that. Certainly there should have been incentives for businesses but in spite of the budget I think that agreement could be reached with government and the private sector.' Lenny Singh - clerk: 'The budget does not cater for the small man. For example, there is nothing there for poverty alleviation and no incentives for expansion in businesses and nothing for the manufacturing sector. Even the banks have not benefited. There is nothing to assist the small man with interest on loans and overdrafts. There is no emphasis on jobs being created for our young people. This could lead to an increase in the crime rate.' Gordon Plass - driver: `As far as I am concerned there is nothing there to push economic development. The most I can see is lots of people losing their jobs. The budget should have been designed in such a way to ensure employment for people. Even though it is the biggest budget it is a disappointment. The fact that there are no new taxes or increases in taxes is no guarantee that the cost of living will not go up even higher. Increases in salaries for the small man will have no meaning because the income tax threshold has not been raised and the little increase the workers get will go back to the tax man. So we are back to square one as regards increases in salaries and no taxation.' Padmini Bhagwandas - University of Guyana student: 'Government is boasting about the 26.6% increase for teachers, police and other categories of workers as though it was of its own volition. Government should have admitted that the increase was in keeping with its promise to honour the agreement coming out of the public servants 55 days strike last year. As far as I am concerned there is nothing in the budget to boast about. There were exactly nine words in the budget speech pertaining to the manufacturing sector. No allocation was made for elections due to be held in January next year. Is there a plan to postpone the elections and for that reason the elections are not catered for? Or are we going to beg and borrow to hold it? There was no mention of the word CARICOM. How can we appreciate the fact that the world is moving towards globalisation without acknowledging CARICOM. Last but not least and I may be wrong but adding up the figures I come up with $58 billion and the government is claiming that the budget is $62.6 billion. Is the difference for personal development?' Orin Richards - researcher: 'Although the budget is the largest it has not addressed the problems of the citizens of the country. Most of the statements coming out of the budget speech are basically to meet the concerns of the Inter-American Development Bank or the International Monetary Fund. There is nothing geared for the young people who are leaving schools. I appreciate the fact that there are school building projects in the pipeline but what about employment for young people when they leave school. Apart from increased pension for senior citizens, which is not enough to sustain the current cost of living, I have heard of no other provision for senior citizens or to tackle the scourge of social problems we are now experiencing. The tourism sector has had its $15 million budgeted last year for the setting up of the Tourism Authority increased by $5 million this year. The money was not spent last year because the authority is still to be set up. This sector needs a massive injection of funds to help promote tourism and create jobs that citizens need. Money allocated to municipalities, especially for the capital city, is definitely inadequate. Cash is needed to provide better security in the city and to upgrade facilities and services.' Arlene Gouveia-Benn: 'For six months now my husband has been without a job and I would have thought that the budget would have at least addressed the issue of unemployment. My husband cannot even find employment as a labourer on a full-time basis. He may get a day's work here and there and that is it. I am also unemployed and I find it very hard having to send the children to school. Government has to encourage investments. That is the only way jobs will be created.' Sheik Dinool - vendor: 'The budget is alright. There are no new taxes but sometimes these measures have backlashes. I think government, knowing that elections are due, is genuinely trying to maintain the status quo. Everybody want a big piece of the cake. That cannot work. Everyone will get what he wants in time but it has to be given out in stages. As it is there is a little for everybody right now. One thing I would suggest, however, is that when the price of petroleum products drop or consumption tax is removed to help consumers and the petrol dealers do not drop the prices, government should reintroduce the consumption tax and use the consumption tax to increase workers salaries. Because of IMF conditionalities, government cannot control prices but it can take certain actions to ensure that the burden is eased on consumers.'
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