The parliamentary opposition is ready to support the government should it move to trim expenditures from the 2024 national budget to increase the salaries of public servants.
Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton said government could find some $20 billion from the current budget to provide an improved quality of life for Guyanese taxpayers.
Addressing the media on Thursday at his weekly press conference, Norton assured that the reallocation of funds would not affect the $1.146 trillion recently passed budget.
An analysis of the government’s recurrent expenditure reveals significant room for optimisation and reallocation of resources to pay all public servants a significant increase, Norton noted.
He said if certain budget lines are maintained from 2023, or if government even considers a five per cent increase that $20 billion could be redirected towards improving the lives of public servants.
He explained that from an allotted $504 million for meals and refreshments, $38 million could be taken to fund the cause.
Another $2.7 billion from the government’s dietary expenditure could also be trimmed from the $13.4 billion allocated.
Some $486 million could be taken from funds set aside for national and other events, leaving the government with $1.7 billion. Another $8 billion could be taken from miscellaneous expenses, leaving $20 billion to address unforeseen costs.
“From strategically reallocating funds from these and other areas, we can easily achieve the $20 billion redirection without significantly disrupting the recurrent programme in the budget.
This appropriation ensures that financial resources are used efficiently prioritising the needs of the poor and vulnerable,” Norton relayed.
Line items with excessive expenditure such as print and non print materials, fuel and lubricants, and renting of buildings show that prudent management could yield substantial savings without compromising essential services and benefits, he stated.
“ This could be achieved without imposing undue strain on the overall budget sum of $1.146 trillion
He said the government goes to the national assembly for supplementary funding whenever needed.
According to him, the rules permit the government to engage in the reallocation of resources and “once there is going to be a reallocation of resources to pay public servants we will support it.”
The opposition has already argued that the budget in its current state does not serve the need of the regular citizen.
“It serves the rich, it serves the wealthy, it serves the PPP elite, their friends and family. So we believe it could be done.”
Norton said further that a significant reduction in corruption by the government could make adequate funds available to pay public servants.
“It is important to note that these resources are available without a reduction in corruption. So if we reduce corruption we would have far more money to be allocated ,” he stated.
Government gave the nod for the passage of the $1.146 trillion budget on February 2, with the largest allocation of $236.1 billion going to the Ministry of Public Works, $135.2 billion to the Ministry of Education and $129.8 billion allocated to Ministry of Health. (Politics 101)
