Lewis decries lack of consultation on budget

Speaking minutes after Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh revealed the particulars of this year’s budget which amounted to $142.8 billion, Lewis said that the budget did not really cater for the pressing needs of Guyanese. “A National Budget should be all about all the people but many will once again be faced with the realization that they are not catered for in as much as the government continues to collect their money through taxation which funds the budget.” He said that the way government was using this money was a violation of Article 13 of the Constitution which expressly speaks about “an inclusionary democracy “- which provides increasing opportunities for the participation of citizens in the management and decision-making processes of the State.  According to him, “in the preparation of the budget many stakeholders were ignored.”

Lewis said that given precedents there is no guarantee that the coming debates will realize any modification of the suggested spending. He expressed concerned again at the withholding of subventions from the Guyana Trades Union Congress and Critchlow Labour College.

Further, Lewis said that the budget failed to address the issue of job creation. He noted that there is yet to be a sustained jobs investment programme in the country. Poverty in the country, he said, “remains high with no systematic efforts made to tackle it frontally”.

Meanwhile, he also expressed concern about the tax system and called for it to be reviewed. He contended that the 16% rate of the Value Added Tax (VAT) needed to be reduced since it was proving to be a burden on the working poor.