Guyana has become a country of astounding and strange contradictions
Mar 12, 2025
Dear Editor,
In the wake of the announcement of a nearly $1.4 trillion budget by the government, I want to call attention to something pernicious that has begun to be normalised in Guyanese society. This budget is a full trillion dollars larger than the PPP’s own 2021 budget, and represents a fourfold increase over 2020’s budget, yet there was virtually no mention whatsoever of poverty in the Minister for Finance’s five-hour speech. When you combine the budgets of 2023, 2024 and 2025, the government has put forward roughly 15 years worth of pre-oil budgets, without sparing a thought for poverty!
Is the government saying, in effect, that if Guyana had never discovered oil, we would still not be discussing poverty eradication in the year 2040? After all, that’s 15 years in the future, when, on our previous course without oil, we would have spent roughly these same resources. If that is so perhaps a better question is if this government ever actually intends to aim for poverty eradication at all? According to the UN Sustainable Development Goals countries should aim to: “By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions.” If Guyana is already spending what it would have been spending in 2040, far beyond the UN 2030 target date, we should have already halved poverty in this country.
We in the Opposition have set a goal of completely eradicating poverty in the first few years of office, given the substantial fiscal space available. We have outlined structured, specific policies to target the various elements of poverty but what is most important is that unlike the current government we are committed to talking about this issue. We believe that we must not hold ourselves to the standards of a country without oil resources, while spending like a country with oil resources. Would the Jagans really approve of today’s PPP? Would Forbes Burnham or Arthur Chung? It feels like we have forgotten the struggles of pre-independence Guyana, when our country was rich with resources but our people destitute. Ignoring poverty is fundamentally unpatriotic.
Guyana has become a country of astounding and strange contradictions. This year, adjusting for prices, Guyana will have a higher per capita GDP than the United Arab Emirates, according to IMF estimates, while poverty statistics range from 35-42%, if the CIA factbook, statista.com and UNICEF are to be believed. Even if poverty were on the lower end, at 35% of the population, this number (and the IMF has made passing mention of some limited improvement) would still be unacceptable in such a wealthy country. Ultimately, Guyanese need to decide on the type of society they want to live in. Will we ignore poverty, hoping it will magically disappear, or confront the issue head on, with sensible policies? Over the years, many loyal Guyanese have fought to improve the lives of those most in need. We may not always have agreed on the methods to be prioritized, but to my mind there has been a national consensus as to the goal. I fear that that has begun to change.
Sincerely
Elson Low,
Economic and Youth Policy Advisor to the Leader of the Opposition,
Opposition Oil and Gas Spokesperson,
Treasurer, PNCR
(Guyana has become a country of astounding and strange contradictions)
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