Guyana’s development agenda takes shape

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (DPI) – President Dr Irfaan Ali says Guyana’s transformational agenda makes provision for increased government expenditure in areas such as housing, healthcare, education, agriculture and other critical sectors, and therefore, there needs to be a balance in the management of the resources.

President Ali noted that while the robust economic development will continue, expenditure will be managed to prevent an overheating of the economy, speaking on Friday during an interview with Trinidad and Tobago’s CNC3 Television while on a state visit to the twin-island Republic.

“Overheating is when there is over expenditure in the system, and there is no mopping up from the monetary side. So, this is something that we are managing, that we are very cautious about,” president Ali explained. “You can get carried away very easily when you have resources coming your way and go on a massive expansion plan or expenditure plan, that can cause hyperinflation, overheating and especially operating in the conditions that we are operating under now, where globally you have rising cost of food.

The Guyanese leader said some expenditures cannot be avoided.

 “We are ensuring that whatever we do, we are not overextending ourselves, we are not overextending the financial system, and we are keeping to the transformative investment.”

With these essential investments in the national transformative agenda, comes the responsibility to put more money into the pockets of ordinary Guyanese through job creation or other measures, Dr Ali theorized. He said that the PPP/C government has been able to create thousands of jobs in various sectors, since it assumed office in August 2020, in keeping with its manifesto promise. In fact, the booming housing programme currently underway has seen thousands of Guyanese gaining employment, as well as the government’s part-time jobs

“Our cost for energy will come down by 50 percent, that will create a new wave of jobs in the industrial and manufacturing sectors…we have six new hotels coming on stream, we have the screen 6,000 people at least to work in the hospitality sector,” he said.

The president asserted that while the emerging economy is creating enough opportunities for jobs, there comes the issue of skilled labour. In this regard, the administration is working on building the capacity and knowledge of the local workforce in preparation for the jobs to come.

This is being done through the expansion of the scholarship programme and the expansion of the local technical and vocational programmes to cater for new and emerging sectors.