GUYANA-Government and opposition outline new “goodies” ahead of September 1 election.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government says it plans to introduce a new GUY$50,000 (One Guyana dollar=US$0.004 cents) grant annually for every pensioner to support transportation, as well as moving the old-age pension to GUY$60,000 a month.

“Tonight, I’m pleased to tell you that we are going to set aside at a minimum GUY$65 billion for old age pensioners. That means that pension will be, at a minimum, GUY$60,000,” President Irfaan Ali told a pubic meeting of his party in Lethem on Sunday night.

“We are also going to set aside a further four billion dollars to support transportation, and that is GUY$50,000,” President Ali added.

He said the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant for Guyana’s more than 200,000 children in public and private schools would now be GUY$200,000 per child, with the addition of GUY$100,000 cash for transportation.

Ali said those increases are “minimum” because once there is scope for further increases, the population would benefit.

“And we understand that the function of the economy, the performance of the economy, is closely correlated to the commitments we’re making. That is why I’m telling you at a minimum, because once our economy performs at a higher than expected rate, then you can expect more benefits and expanded benefits coming to you, your children, and your families,” he said.

Ali said those increases would be in addition to a subsidy for housing repairs and construction, a small business development grant, a presidential grant, funding from the Low Carbon Development Strategy, and the regional budget.

“This is outside all of that. This is outside investment we’ll make in your villages, because we want you to live a prosperous, fulfilling life here in Guyana,” he said.

Meanwhile, the main opposition coalition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), has unveiled its manifesto for the September 1 general and regional elections, promising to reduce corporate tax and increase business financing opportunities.

“We have a broad range of policies to energize the business sector. Towards that end, we will progressively reduce the corporation taxes to global standards of 20 to 30 percent and modify regulations to give predictability to tax benefits,” said APNU presidential candidate, Aubrey Norton, at the launch.

According to the manifesto, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) led APNU, said that it hopes that the gradual reduction of corporate tax from 45 to 35 per cent will make companies competitive, attract foreign direct investment, and discourage tax evasion.

It states that regulations will be modified to make tax benefits predictable with attached conditions, such as allowing corporations an expense deduction for the cost of retraining the workforce in skills needed to aid developments across various sectors.

The APNU is also promising a reduction of the tax on four-door four-wheel drive vehicles to 15 per cent on the cost only, excluding insurance and freight.

“This initiative will promote new levels of development in agriculture, construction, mining, and tourism,” the party said, noting that in terms of financing, an APNU administration would reintroduce a development bank as the previous long-term financing facility was closed by the PPP/C. administration.

“Our goal is simple. We intend to fill the finance gap between the large and small producers where investment risks are high and the potential for investment success becomes a reality,” Norton told supporters.

He said that an APNU-led administration would consider adding an export-import window to support international businesses that want to venture overseas.

He said the public-private partnership technique would be used in foreign direct investment to skip constraints that restrict the access of Guyana’s products to foreign markets.

“We will stand behind any investor of manufactured goods because we know from global statistics that trade in manufactured goods brings more export revenue,” he said.

He told the ceremony that Guyana’s economy relies heavily on small businesses and that an APNU government would provide adequate locations and facilities for vending, enjoy subsidized electricity and rent, and be assured of access to sufficient amounts of foreign currency because “a fundamental ingredient for any business is finance”.