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President Ali announces sweeping budgetary measures

September 7, 2020

His Excellency, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana today announced more than 40 sweeping measures that will bring significant economic relief to Guyanese and several sectors.

The measures are captured in the emergency budget for 2020 that is set to be read at the sitting of the National Assembly on Wednesday.

See list below:

  1. Reversal of VAT on electricity and water
  2. Removal of VAT and duties on machinery and equipment for recapitilisation of key sectors such as mining, forestry, agriculture and manufacturing
  3. Tax concessions for the mining, forestry, agriculture and manufacturing sectors
  4. Reversal of land lease fees
  5. Removal of VAT on fertilizers, pesticides, agro chemicals and key inputs in the poultry sector
  6. Removal of VAT on all exports
  7. Removal of VAT on Hinterland travel
  8. Removal of VAT on all medical supplies
  9. Removal of VAT building and construction materials imposed after 2014
  10. Removal of VAT on mobile phones
  11. Removal of Corporate Tax on private education
  12. Removal of Corporate Tax on private healthcare
  13. Mortgage Interest will become income tax deductible
  14. Any license fee that was increased after 2014 will be reduced by 50 percent
  15. Log Export policy changed to allow sawmillers to export logs
  16. Reverse the policy to allow for the importation of used tyres
  17. Reverse the policy to allow for the use of vehicles more than 8 years old
  18. Reverse to policy to allow half cut vehicles over 8 years to be imported
  19. Effective from January, 2021, $15,000 Cash grant for school children
  20. The school uniform voucher allowance will be doubled to $4,000 per child
  21. Effective from January, 2021, $25, 000 for old age pension
  22. Reintroduction of CSO programme, $800M for Amerindian Development Fund
  23. $5B budgetary support for GuySuCo directly
  24. Revert to free water for pensioners
  25.  2 weeks tax free bonus for the Joint Services
  26.  $150M set aside for frontline workers
  27. $200M set aside to expand the Guyana Learning Channel
  28.  Implement a programme immediately that will see 25, 000 solar units being distributed in the Hinterland
  29.  Removing the requirement to register and take out road license for miners
  30. Removing the requirement that prohibited miners from transporting fuel in their vehicles
  31. Revert the poultry industry to zero rated VAT status
  32. Incentives which will see land being made available to plant soya bean and corn for feed mills
  33. New Farm to market access roads
  34. Land and water charges will be reverted to the rates they were at the end of 2014
  35. 50 new 4×4 vehicles for the Guyana Police Force
  36. $1.5B for Hinterland urban and rural roads
  37.  New ferry for the North West with cold storage capacity
  38. Suddie, New Amsterdam, Leonora, West Demerara and Diamond Hospitals will be upgraded
  39. $25, 000 per Household for COVID-19 Relief
  40. Special incentives for new hotels
  41. Special incentives for communities considered vulnerable now
  42. Liberalization of Telecoms sector
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