Pre-Budget Address by President Irfaan Ali January 25th 2022
paradise [Music] we up um [Music] a place of [Music] this peace [Music] is [Music] to live in such a beautiful in country [Music] a place of peace [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] good evening fellow guyanese today i just want to spend a few moments addressing some of the issues the policies and the programs that budget 2022 will address and cater for as you're aware budget 2022 will continue along the trajectory set out by our manifesto addressing the socio-economic transformation of guyana and building our one guyana stronger and more secure the policies and programs in budget 2022 would be people-centered and people-driven focusing on policies and programs that will continue the transformation of our country and expand and improve the delivery of services our focus would be economic expansion increased productivity enhance competitiveness a stable macroeconomic fundamentals capacity building and supporting a stronger private sector before i go into some of the specific policies and the policy agenda of budget 2022 i want to say that when we assumed office in 2021 our immediate task was to restore the economy was to address job loss was to address the negative image of guyana was to address the confidence level in investment climate in guyana i'm very pleased to say that we have been able to address all these issues and place guyana now in a stable environment in which international investors the sophisticated investors and the local private sector are once again actively seeking out opportunities in our country we have been able to put our agricultural sector our mining sector our forestry sector on a forward-looking trajectory one in which we have restored hope one in which we have restored functionality and profitability and functionality is important if we are to address issues that surrounds the various sector we have been able to make the point not only through narrative but through concrete measures that guyana is not only about oil and gas but the sustainable development of our country and our economy requires investment in every single sector and we have been working on creating the conducive framework through policies and programs through incentive mechanisms to ensure that these sectors project a forward-looking profitable and sectors that can attract investment the policy agenda and measures in budget 2022 will be aimed and geared towards increasing disposable income and this is critical we must have more disposable income available to the population so in budget 2022 i've asked the minister of finance to include specific measures that will be geared at enhancing and improving your disposable income ensuring that there is more money available to families more money available in the economy whilst we improve the disposable income i've also advised that we must maintain a low tax environment and this was a critical component of our manifesto ensuring not only we remove all those burdensome taxes that was placed there on the backs of guyanese by the ap and uafc government but more importantly creating a robust economic environment but a robust environment that does not require increases in taxes or increases in tax burden upon the people of our country budget 2022 is geared towards economic growth and expansion without bringing new tax burdens or hardship on the people of guyana butcher 22 will be aimed at expanding and creating job opportunities ensuring that we lay the foundation for a better health care system and educational services importantly greater and more enhanced public-private partnerships and support to the vulnerable especially our children women and the elderly we have made specific commitment as it relates to health care education children women and the elderly and all those commitment in the manifesto will be realized but 2022 will continue the point in incremental realization of these promises we made improvement in the disposable income for the old age pensioners more resources for children more opportunities for women better health care and educational services and an expanded scholarship program butter 2022 will also see tremendous aggression in the advancement of the public sector investment program the psip the public sector investment program is integral to the transformation of our country investment in key infrastructure enhancing infrastructure is key to the improvement of living condition and livelihood of the guyanese people and budget 22 2022 will see a comprehensive and aggressive framework in terms of our public sector investment program these investments are in keeping with a transformative agenda outlined in our manifesto we spoke about many of these needed investment whether it's the road to let them important bridges expansion of highways building of new highways opening up of new road link along the hinterland and rivering communities creating more direct access to ma for our miners reducing the cost of transportation these are the issues that will be addressed through the investment in the psip in order to not only improve but make health and educational services more accessible and available but 2022 will set aside a framework and resources that would look at expansion massive massive expansion of our health care system and our educational system resources will be set aside to ensure the commencement of a program that will see 90 percent of our population along the coast having access to treated water 90 of our population this is even beyond what would have promised in the manifesto but we are setting aside these resources to commence this program because it is essential to the improvement of livelihood improvement in uh in our living standards so you will see tremendous investment to achieve 90 percent coverage of treated water along our coastline whilst we will be doing this we are also well on our way through investments that will be made in budget 2022 to achieve the reduction in our energy costs and electricity by 50 percent by the time we get up to 20 25 a reduction of 50 percent that is a target we're going after this will bring more disposable income in your pocket this will create a more conducive environment for the manufacturing sector the industrial sector this will bring more jobs it will bring more industries more companies and will expand the guyanese economy along with this we'll be investing heavily in the hinterland and riverine communities to ensure every community will have access to portable water so hinterland and rivering communities will also see tremendous investment not only for portable water but for educational services ict services internet services connectivity because we have to invest more and budget 2022 will project that framework to integrate more the population from the hinterland and riverine community with the rest of guyana so this is another important aspect of budget 2022 aggressive steps true financing will be taken in budget 2022 in the construction of many new roads highways bridges and other key infrastructure to catalyze growth and development these are strategic infrastructure transformative infrastructure of high priority and great magnitude that budget 2022 will be addressed this is the year that will inject the fuel that would lead to the transformation we want to achieve and butter 2022 will inject that fuel to catalyze the growth in an aggressive and forward-looking manner at the same time we will be investing heavily in healthcare to meet the promise of bringing world-class healthcare service to every citizen in our country world-class health healthcare to every single citizen in our country food security an expansion of agriculture is another key area through which government will support and partner with farmers and stakeholder groups in making our agriculture sector competitive productive and an integral part in the region's food supply system it is not only about building the farm to market access roads and improving more access to lands and enhancing productivity and yield all of those are things budget 22 2022 will address i've asked specifically for it to address but sitting as a chair of the caricom agricultural initiative where we are trying to achieve 25 percent less import by 2025 2025 requires guyana to take an aggressive step towards not only fulfilling our national food requirement but enhancing our productivity to meet the regional needs so we are working aggressively on removing the barriers and building the capacity to be the main food supplier in the region and budget 2022 with outland will outline specific measures through which we'll support our fish folks through which will support our rice farmers through which we will support our aquaculture farmers through which will support our cash crop farmers we will have specific initiatives aimed at supporting farming and agriculture and food production in our country agro-processing we will be setting aside resources to have public private partnerships to have partnership with communities and stakeholder groups in enhancing food production all of this have asked to be in budget 2022 housing continues to be a key pillar through which will improve livelihood and enhance personal equity tremendous investments will therefore be made in expanding new infrastructure to meet the target of 50 000 house laws set aside in our manifesto we'll also be investing heavily in industrial and manufacturing development to ensure that we create sustainable communities in which there is a match between community development and economic expansion and opportunities social services and security are also key component of these sustainable communities we want to create so it's not only about creation of house lots and building of homes we are also on a planning trajectory that incorporates industrial development manufacturing job creation job creation and job creating initiatives to support sustainable live loading communities to support sustainable communities we'll also be investing in security systems proper health and educational services water services to ensure our people the people of guyana enjoys the best quality of life in the fastest possible time frame this will also be supported with robust investment in our social sectors i mentioned health and education recreation and sport facilities all of this will improve the quality of life within communities butcher 2022 will ensure children get more yes i have instructed a specific measures be in the budget to enhance the welfare and well-being of children so children will get more we'll set aside greater support to the elderly we'll accelerate our scholarship program will support the vulnerable create room for direct medical support for our population and enhance investments in the security sector through the use of technology and capacity building whilst at the same time fulfilling our promise of better working conditions welfare and equipment for men and women in the joint services the oil and gas sector is no doubt one of the catholic sectors in our country the oil and gas sector is key to the transformation of our country very key so budget 2022 will set aside resources for development and expansion of opportunities for locals through the implementation of the local content act in order to create more job opportunities investment opportunities wealth creation training and education and integrating our oil and gas strategy with our national development plan which is sustainable in nature there must be a match and we have made it very clear that revenues from the oil and gas sector must be used to make the other sectors more competitive must be able and must be utilized in a way to expand the economic framework of our country to improve our competitiveness to enhance our sustainability to build an economy that is standing on many different legs that can withstand global shocks that can weather storms when they come these are the issues that budget 2022 will address directly specific measures will be announced to boost the construction sector enhance our efficiencies and create an enabling environment in which guyanese can more easily acquire assets equipment and machinery to boost their business i am aware of the impact that costs of living is having while we cannot address all the issues surrounding cost of living i've instructed that resources be set aside to address this issue though this is a global issue and much of it is imported as a world is experiencing a 30-year high in inflation rates due to soaring food costs notwithstanding all of this this government has a commitment to do all it can within its budgetary constraint and framework to help the population of this country therefore i've asked the minister of finance to satisfy a sizeable allocation to address issues of cost of living and this sizeable allocation will be used through consultation with communities across the country to identify specific ways and initiatives in which we can deploy this budgeted allocation to ease the burden on the population the budget is about removing burdens budget 2022 is about creating opportunities reducing burdens enhancing welfare giving back more to the population enhancing livelihood improving living conditions and improving the quality of life of the guyanese people this is what budget 2022 will address in a holistic manner building a stronger guyana building one guyana enhancing the policy framework for us to achieve the agenda we set out in the manifesto resources will also be set aside to build specific entrepreneurial programs reward innovations and expand our tourism through support for the private sector enhance local international branding training and development small business support and collaborating with major international chains who are investing to integrate closer with our local production system these are some of what you can expect in budget 2022 more investment in people more allocation to the vulnerable better quality of life for the guyanese people importantly in addressing our competitiveness and in keeping with our commitment in the local local content legislation we will seek to reduce any disparities that exist in a tax system that can undermine the competitiveness of local companies competing with foreign companies for business in the oil and gas sector on the local content framework i want to repeat that we will seek to reduce any disparities that exist in a tax system that can undermine the competitiveness of local companies competing with foreign companies in my meetings in my meetings with various stakeholders especially the locals in the oil and gas sector they raise this very issue for example with vat on tier 1 contract and supplier from exxon so not only that issue we're dealing with we'll be seeking to reduce any disparities this is the type of support that we are bringing to the local private sector to guyanese true measures in budget 2022 importantly in boosting our construction sector because our construction sector is key to the fulfillment of all that is captured in budget 2022 we will be giving some generous incentives to this sector we will be addressing the issue of the withholding tax on contractors that was imposed by the ap and ufc government that all contractors and local participants in the construction sector would have raised with us that it is it inflict great pain on their cash flow system budget 2022 will address the issue of this withholding tax butter 2022 will address the issue of cranes and other specialized equipment that is needed in the oil and gas sector in the construction sector that attracts duties and other taxes budget 2022 will address these with measures that would ease any hardship or burden and improve or increase the capability and capacity for local contractors to invest in the necessary that is required for the construction industry we have heard many farmers miners the small miners the small contractors young people speaking about the taxes on vehicles and budget 2022 will address specifically specifically taxes on double cap open backs the double cap pickups that are now critical to the development of our country and many industries budget 2022 will make specific announcements and measures on that trucks we wanted to make it easier for persons to own and operate more modern trucks that come with more axle so it can have less burden on the roadways and have longer life cycle so budget 2022 will address specifically new trucks or trucks less than four years old specific initiatives will be announced geared towards new trucks or trucks less than four years old in addition to this as i said earlier a specific sizeable allocation will be made to address the issue of cost of living we will continue to implement measures to reduce the cost of fuel we'll extend measures to address the issues of the cost of freight specific measures will be announced that will reduce the cost of borrowing for whom for home ownership specific measures to address and support our school children to support the elderly supporting the vulnerable supporting dialysis patients whilst all of this will be catered for in budget 2022 i've also advised the minister of finance to look at the personal income tax of taxpayers and to make necessary adjustment in keeping with the budgetary framework and the affordability of the country at this moment as i said the measures will continue to be incremental but i assure all the targets we set out in a manifesto are well on their way to be achieved we'll also address issues of the cost of medical and life insurance and to find ways i've asked the minister to address this in a specific measure to find ways in which there can be a netting off so more people can have less costly and affordable medical and life insurance whilst at the same time allowing for measures to incentivize savings in the banking system among all of this notwithstanding what is happening globally notwithstanding a rising inflation globally the empty shells the increase in fuel costs the imported inflation i have made it very clear to the minister of finance that we will not in any way introduce any new burden or taxes on the guyanese people and we will make the investment to ensure that we keep the cost of energy and fuel stable essential and important to the development of our country the investments will be made to ensure we have our own oil and gas institute and also our institute our hospitality institute so that we can train our guidings but whilst we are building this up the government will be supporting the training of thousands of guyanese in every area that the economy requires fellow guyanese as your president i stand once again on the eve of budget 2022 to reaffirm our commitment in building a stronger unified guyana in which all of us as guyanese will have a better quality of life and a better chance of enhancing our welfare may god bless you and continue to be safe all of you thank you [Music]
2022-01-30 20:51
