Financial and political sources are of the view that based on the trend by the People's Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Administration since it took office in 1992, this year's budget will be the largest ever presented in the history of Guyana.

Last year's National Budget, which was presented under the theme 'Confronting the Challenges; Staying on Course for a Prosperous Guyana,' proposed a public expenditure of $72.9 billion, and, up until this afternoon's budget presentation, remains the largest ever presented in the history of this country. It was 15.9 percent bigger than the 2002 budget.

The 2001 National Budget amounted to $64.7 billion and was presented under the theme, 'Moving Guyana Forward Together'.

In 2002, the National Budget of $68.9 billion was presented under the theme 'Promoting Economic Growth; Accelerating Social Gains.'

Among other things, last year's budget sought to increase job creation through growth, promotion and attraction of investment, and increased support for the private sector, greater access to potable water, housing and other social services, reform of the judiciary, more accountable Government, and an intensification of the fight against crime.

"The seriousness with which we intend to pursue the execution and implementation of our plans, policies and programmes will ensure that we make further progress this year," Minister Kowlessar said in his 2003 budget presentation speech.

By the end of the year, the Ministry of Education had begun implementing a G$7.3 billion Basic Education Access and Management Systems (BEAMS) Programme, intended to rehabilitate and re-equip an unprecedented number of secondary schools, improve the quality of teacher training and education delivery, and make the school environment more conducive to classroom learning,

In the health sector, a nutrition/breastfeeding programme alone accounted for $1.2 billion in public spending. The Health Ministry's HIV/AIDS programme accounted for another $600 million, and $370 million was allocated for the construction of an in-patient ward at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.

The budget allocated $1.8 billion for housing, faced with unprecedented demands after Government's re-establishment of the Housing Ministry rekindled the hopes of low-income earners for owning their own homes.

Government's water supply programme also expanded significantly with a multi-billion dollar injection that saw thousands of citizens in Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo receiving potable water in their homes for the very first time.

In the area of crime fighting, the police force in particular was re-equipped with modern weapons matching those possessed by criminals and was able to contain violent crime in a number of operations, the most notable being the joint police-army operation in the Buxton area.

Programmes on agriculture, transport and communication, urban rehabilitation, job creation, poverty reduction, tax reform, rural electrification and telecommunications also moved apace after receiving their biggest financial allocations ever.