$383.1B 2021 Budget passed by National Assembly

The $383.1Billion National Budget was today passed in Parliament following approval of the Appropriations Bill 2021 (Bill No. 4 of 2021) and five days of debates along with three days of Committee of Supply meetings.

Earlier in the day, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh had noted that much work had been put into the crafting of the Budget with major contribution from large sections of society.

“A lot of work went into preparation of the National Budget and this work reflected the input of many, many people. It reflected the input of non-governmental stakeholders- the wide range of stakeholders who we consulted with and whom made contributions to the preparation of the Budget. It reflects the hard work of literally hundreds of civil servants who work in the various Ministries and in the various sectors who spent a lot of time preparing their respective Ministry or Agency Budgets, identifying projects or developing projects and initiatives for inclusion in the budget,” the   Minister said.

The Senior Finance Minister had also noted that crafting of the Budget involved ‘tremendous work’ by the staff of the Ministry of Finance as well as Cabinet which led ultimately to its conclusion prior to being presented to Parliament.

He recalled that many stakeholders following consultations with Government and their perusal of the Budget had stated publicly that the 2021 Budget included a wide range of initiatives intended to move forward the development agenda in Guyana and that it was expected to benefit all sections of the country.

The Budget, the largest to date in the country’s history was passed despite the main Opposition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change’s (APNU/AFC’s) continued attempts to delay its passage through various means of disruption which that party commenced the previous day.        

Subsequent to the passage of the Bill, six disruptive APNU/AFC Opposition members were suspended for the remainder of the Sitting during the afternoon period as they continued to film the proceedings via mobile devices while standing and banging on their desks throughout the Committee of Supply Consideration of Estimates and Expenditure despite the warnings of the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Honourable Manzoor Nadir.

During the morning period of the Sitting, the Speaker had suspended the session following the disruption by the main Opposition members as they banged desks noisily stating that the House needed to have Member of Parliament, the Honourable Kwame McCoy of the Government’s side removed from Parliament for what they alleged to be assault on Opposition Member, the Honourable Tabitha-Sarabo Halley the previous day. Video evidence had thus far determined the allegation to be untrue and Minister Singh had concluded that the Opposition’s claims were simply made and continued to be made to delay the passage of the Budget. Incidentally, following suspension of the APNU/AFC’s six members for their disruption and disobeying the Speaker, all other APNU/AFC members did not return to vote on the passage of the Budget.                

Moments after the Budget’s successful passage, the Senior Finance Minister expressed disappointment that the main Opposition party chose to end their participation in the process in that manner but noted that he was immensely grateful to all who contributed to preparation, consideration, and approval of the Budget.

“Special thanks to the technical staff of the Ministry of Finance and all other government agencies, Parliament Office, the Guyana Police Force, and the media… and, of course, special thanks to the thousands of citizens and other viewers who tuned in to the proceedings over the past few weeks,” the Minister concluded.