Dear Editor,
Direct Cash Transfers is whereby the Government makes a payment to eligible beneficiaries. This payment can be conditional or unconditional.
I am in support of one-off Direct Cash Transfers as it helps to reduce poverty. It can also help to reduce racial economic disparities as the money is normally spent in local communities spurring local economies.
I suggest that unconditional Direct Cash Transfers not be means tested and the only eligibility criteria is that you would need to be Guyanese living in Guyana.
The beneficiaries of such Direct Cash Transfers would be Guyanese living in Guyana.
The size of the transfer needs to be around GYD 100,000 per person. This means a single person, regardless of age, will get GYD 100,000; a family of four gets GYD 400,000.
The reason that I support one-off none means tested Direct cash transfers is that everyone benefits. Whereas with means tested Direct Cash Transfers there can be unintended consequences like rising cost of living for non-beneficiaries.
The total estimated one-off cost would be about GYD 80B or US$ 400m.
Direct Cash Transfers are not the solution to end poverty as it can have the unintended consequences of pushing up prices leading to the need for bigger Direct Cash Transfers.
There is a saying: Give a person a fish and feed them for a day; give a person a net and they can feed themselves forever. Direct Cash Transfers is likened to giving a person a fish. Whereas, jobs are likened to giving a person a net. Having a job helps with Social Mobility as it not only gives people an income but also skills to progress.
Yours Faithfully
Sean Ori
