Speeches in the National Assembly

Mr. Speaker, I rise to move the motion for the approval of the Estimates of the Public Sector and the Budget for the Financial Year 2022. In doing so, I wish to indicate that Cabinet has recommended that the National Assembly proceed upon this motion, pursuant to Article 171 Paragraph 2 of the Constitution of Guyana.

 Budget 2022 is the third budget that this People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government is submitting to this Honourable House in our current term of office. It comes to this House a mere eighteen months since the culmination of that epic struggle to defend democracy that was waged for five months following the unforgettable March 2020 elections. History now records it indelibly that that struggle secured the triumph of democracy over dictatorship and safeguarded the supremacy of the will of the People.

Over the eighteen months that have elapsed since democracy prevailed, pessimism has been replaced with optimism. Lethargy has made way for energy, superficiality has made way for substance, and pomp and pageantry have made way for humility and hard work. The policy void that existed then has been replaced with vision and clear direction, institutional inertia has been replaced with dynamism, and empty rhetoric has been replaced with concrete action. Today, investors who had walked away are returning, and projects that had stalled have resumed. Where there was once economic contraction there is now economic expansion, and where there were once job losses there is now job creation. These developments are clear for all to see, and they illustrate amply the indisputable relationship between democratic and economic outcomes.

Please see attachment: Budget Speech 2021

Attachments