As Guyana’s achievements continue to grow and be highlighted and celebrated in reflections this year as part of the country’s sixtieth year of independence from Britain, Senior Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh today said President Irfaan Ali’s theme ‘One Guyana was intended to highlight and emphasize the country’s oneness, to build on this oneness and to ensure in this particular era of the country’s development that every single Guyanese person is able to participate in, contribute to and benefit from the economic transformation underway.
The Minister said this while delivering remarks at the Ethnic Relations Commission’s (ERC’s) National Symposium held today at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre where reflection contributions were also made by members of the ERC and the Parliamentary Opposition while feature remarks were delivered by United Nations Resident Coordinator in Guyana Ms. Jean Njeri Kamau.
“You know the story of our country’s economic growth. You know that we’ve been growing more rapidly than pretty much every other country around the world. All Guyanese know the rate at which this economic growth is translating into employment and entrepreneurial activities. In fact, in the first term of President Ali’s presidency, we reduced by half the unemployment rate, from 12.8 percent in 2020 to 6.8 percent in 2024, creating more than 104,000 new jobs. And those jobs went to Guyanese of every single background, and in every single region of our country,” Dr. Singh underscored.
Further elaborating on the People’s Progressive Party/Civic’s (PPP/C’s) achievements since it returned to government in 2020, Minister Singh noted that the administration reduced youth unemployment from 30.2 percent in 2020 to 12.1 percent in 2024.
“And here again, the young people who entered the labour market and found work came from every part of Guyana and comprised every imaginable background and combinations thereof and the same applies to every single social program that we have sought to implement-whether it be the 104,000 jobs that we have created, the more than 80,000 persons that we have trained through one program or another, the social benefits that we have implemented, the National Cash Grant program, the “Because We Care” program—and we have had significant debates about designing of these programs,” he added further.
The Minister pointed out that government was very deliberate when designing the programs to ensure that the programs were designed in a manner to ensure that there aren’t certain eligibility criteria or mean tests added but instead, universal applicability.
“Today, students throughout the length and breadth of Guyana are receiving a cash grant of $85,000, irrespective of where they live, irrespective of the economic circumstances of their parents, irrespective of the origin of their ancestors and the same applies to every single social program that President Ali’s government is implementing,” the finance minister emphasized.
Minister Singh reiterated that President Irfaan Ali’s government is committed to creating opportunities for personal upliftment for every single Guyanese person as he alluded to government’s new Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Development Bank targeting small businesses coming on stream which will serve as an important vehicle for the economic empowerment of Guyanese of every background and in every region.
“Because we believe, like I said, that our diversity continues to be one of our greatest sources of strength. We believe that this strength has served us well in past generations and will continue to serve us well going forward. That is not to say that there isn’t work to be done, and where there is, we are committed to doing it. But as responsible political leaders, we also have a duty in all that we do, to not to foster and promote suspicion, but instead to reduce suspicion, and to promote cohesiveness in all that we do,” Dr. Singh concluded.
Since returning to office in 2020, the PPP/C government has expanded access to education and educational opportunities for all Guyanese via progammes such as the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) through which thousands of Guyanese have graduated and upgraded their qualifications, through the Board of Industrial Training programmes implemented free of cost and the administration has also made access to university education in the country free of cost. The administration also expanded its housing programme distributing thousands of houselots to young professionals and Guyanese from all across the country surpassing the 50,000-distribution target in its first term (2020-2025) to 53,000 being distributed over the first five years. In addition, the government for this new term (2025-2030) has committed and is working towards ensuring financial inclusion for each citizen and expanding financial literacy while also continuing to expand access to health care and modernizing the sector through technological advancement among other initiatives.
