Announcements

Georgetown, Ministry of Finance, January 3, 2021:

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, has called on the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to ensure that taxpayers who are legitimately entitled to tax refunds receive these in a timely manner. The Minister observed that taxpayers often complain that they have to wait an inordinate length of time before they receive tax refunds to which they are entitled. He pointed out that extended delays in paying tax refunds can have severe adverse effects on the cash flow of businesses and households, which in turn could affect both consumption and investment, and ultimately be a drag on economic activity on the whole.

The Minister emphasized, however, that more timely refunds should not in any way compromise the rigour with which the GRA verifies the legitimacy of each refund payable. Instead, Minister Singh stated that the verification and payment processes should be made more efficient to ensure that refunds are both thoroughly verified and promptly paid. The Minister’s call for more timely processing of tax refunds comes against the backdrop of a broader drive for improved service quality across public sector agencies. At the GRA, the Minister recently addressed senior management of the Authority and directed them to work immediately to improve the quality of their interaction with taxpayers, emphasizing the importance of the highest standards of integrity and efficiency across all aspects of their operations.

Georgetown, Ministry of Finance, December 28, 2020:

Supplementary allocations for key sectors including Agriculture, Housing and Water, Amerindian Affairs and Human Services were today secured when Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh successfully piloted two Supplementary Appropriation Acts in the National Assembly during the 15th Sitting of the 12th Parliament.

An amount of $18.2B for the year 2020 was approved and comprised of Financial Paper 1- No. 1 of 2020 totaling $792.3M drawn down from the Contingency Fund, while Financial Paper 2- No. 2 of 2020 amounted to $17.4 B of Supplementary Provision. The advances from the Contingency Fund with Paper 1 included expenditure on uniform allowance for students in Regions 1,7,8 and 9, urgent repairs to agriculture access dams within Regions 2, 3 and 5, the procurement of motorcycles to support anti-crime operations, overseas training of engineers of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) to provide maintenance to the King Air 350 Beechcraft and an advance payment on the acquisition of a Bell 412 helicopter which will increase the aerial operations’ capacity of the GDF.

In relation to Financial Paper No. 2, funds were secured for several sectors including the Ministry of Finance for the provision of partial clearance of inherited stock of arrears to the Guyana Power and Light Company and for the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs for the procurement of tractors and trailers for hinterland communities. Additionally, under the Ministry of Agriculture $4B was approved as a capital contribution to GUYSUCO, while $407M was granted for additional drainage and irrigation works in Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10 to enhance food security in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, funding was also secured for other key sectors such as the Ministry of Public Works for additional resources to advance the country’s roads programme, $2. 5B for the Ministry of Human Services in relation to additional provision for the Covid-19 relief household initiative and a $2B allocation under the Ministry of Housing and Water for additional infrastructural works in new and existing areas. An amount of $4.2 B for 2019 with respect to illegal withdrawals from the contingency fund by the APNU/AFC Coalition Government was also cleared. It must be noted that these unauthorized withdrawals were done at a time when the then Government had lost a No-confidence Motion and was in caretaker mode.

Georgetown, Ministry of Finance, December 22, 2020:

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh has clarified that no fixed date has yet been set for the presentation of Budget 2021 and that a date reported by at least one media outlet today was simply an ‘indicative’ date on the Budget circular disseminated just about two weeks ago.

It was brought to my attention that at least one news outlet has reported that the date for the 2021 Budget has been set-that the Budget Date is February 5, 2021. The actual specific date for presentation of the 2021 Budget is yet to be finally determined. I suspect that the speculation about February 5 is probably derived from the Budget circular,” he said.

The Senior Finance Minister further noted that budget circular timelines are usually set out for the budget preparation process and stages are stipulated with deadlines set for each process. “So the Budget circular did include a date- an indicative date- for presentation of the Budget which we are targeting…..but that is and always has been interpreted as an indicative date …the actual determination of which date precisely we are going to be tabling the Budget…that decision is going to be made I would say much closer to the time, “ he added, reiterating that ‘no decision has been made that the Budget will be presented on February 5th or any other date’.

However, the Minister pointed out that Budget 2021 will be the first full year Budget of his Government’s five-year term and as such, as was done on previous occasions- the medium and long- term priorities of Government will be outlined including Government’s long-term vision for the country.

The manifesto outlines a lot of our major initiatives and big projects that will be our main departure points. In addition, we are hoping also to try to streamline the Budget so that the expenditure that we incur is more efficient as well. We’ve highlighted the fact that our predecessors in office were a lot more extravagant in spending in certain areas and we are hoping to streamline some of that spending, not necessarily eliminate it but to channel it into more productive areas… that will contribute in a more meaningful and direct way to both stimulating growth in the economy and improving people’s lives,” Minister Singh further elaborated.

Georgetown, Ministry of Finance, December 22, 2020:

1. Emphasizes need for timely processing of claims and payments of benefits.

2. Notes level of work needed for financial viability to return to Scheme.

The recently-announced new National Insurance Scheme (NIS) Board yesterday held its maiden meeting at the NIS complex, Carifesta Avenue where Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh was in attendance advising the Scheme’s board of the level of work needed and the challenges ahead in relation to the various problems to be addressed at the Scheme.

The Minister first thanked the Chairman, Mr. Ramesh Persaud and Board members in attendance for accepting the appointments as he also outlined some of his Government’s expectations in terms of the work necessary to return NIS to financial viability.

Over the last several years, we have seen the progressive decline of the Scheme. The NIS faces a number of challenges at the macro level and has come under severe threat. It is therefore going to take a lot of work to return the Scheme to long term financial viability,” the Senior Minister reiterated.

He also emphasized the level of importance his Government has placed on NIS, reminding the Board that pensioners and retirees look forward to their pension in a timely manner while current contributors expect to receive their benefits promptly.

Minister Singh related the Government’s grave concern at the number of complaints received from contributors about delays in receiving their benefits and entitlements, sometimes as a result of incomplete records of their contributions to the Scheme. As such, he tasked the Board with addressing this problem immediately, with a view to ensuring that public satisfaction with the level of service provided by the NIS improves urgently. Just over a week ago the Minister announced the appointment of former Private Sector Commission (PSC) Chairman, Mr. Ramesh Persaud as new Chairman of the NIS Board. Mr. Persaud is also currently the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED) and also serves as a member of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) Board. The other members of the Board are Ms. Holly Greaves (ExOfficio), Mr. Faizal Jaffarally, Ms. Yvonne Pearson, Mr. Maurice Solomon, Mr. Satanand Gopie, Ms. Kathleen Jason, Mr. Seepaul Narine and Ms. Jillian Burton-Persaud.

Georgetown, Ministry of Finance, December 11, 2020:

As Guyana continues to foster deeper cooperation ties with the United States of America in key development areas, Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh today met with United States Ambassador, Sarah Ann Lynch at his Ministry, Main & Urquhart Streets. The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss areas of mutual interest that would be strengthened through bilateral and multilateral channels, trade and financial measures. With Guyana now being an oil producer and exporter, the country has seen significant interest by international investors in oil and gas as well as in other productive sectors. This is pivotal to Government’s efforts in reinvigorating the non-oil economy. Moves have been made recently and continue to be made to foster investment in Guyana’s rich agricultural and tourism sectors. Minister Singh used the opportunity to thank Ambassador Lynch for her country’s unwavering support of democracy and the rule of law in Guyana. This assisted in paving the way for the strengthening of ties and continued successful bilateral relations.

The two officials discussed how US support can help strengthen institutional capacity and the business environment against the background of heightened investor interest in Guyana. These discussions took place against the backdrop of the Framework Agreement signed between the two countries to strengthen Energy and Infrastructure Finance and Market Building Cooperation, security among other key areas. The Agreement was signed in September 2020 between His Excellency, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali and United States Secretary of State, Mr. Mike Pompeo when the latter and his team visited Guyana.

Notably, the majority of overseas-based Guyanese reside in the United States of America forming the largest bloc of its diaspora. As such, Government has also vowed to leverage the skills and investment potential of this bloc as it continues on its development path to prosperity.

Georgetown, Ministry of Finance, December 4, 2020:

Despite being a caretaker Government and ironically even after acknowledging that they were in caretaker mode, the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition abused the Contingency Fund, withdrawing large sums long after losing the new confidence motion, and leaving a total of $4.2 billion of uncleared Contingency Fund advances. This was noted today by Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance who lamented the state of the economy during an interview.

Much to our astonishment and during the latter part of 2019….after the Caribbean Court of Justice’s (CCJ) ruling in June 2019….no less than G$4.2 billion dollars was drawn from the Contingency Fund to meet a variety of expenditure that had not been budgeted for, he explained.

The Senior Finance Minister reminded that considering that an election was impending and that even though then President Granger had acknowledged himself that his Government was in caretaker mode, the Government nevertheless dipped into the Contingency Fund to draw down on G$4.2 billion from July 2019 onwards until as late as December 2019.

Ironically, the Government had boasted the previous year that they had not used the Contingencies Fund in two years, 2017 and 2018, … and it appeared to have been a matter of great pride to them… yet in the second half of 2019 when they were clearly in caretaker mode, they appeared to have no reservations about turning to the Contingencies Fund and drawing down no less than G$4.2 billion, he stated.