President Ali criticises APNU+AFC for ‘wasteful’ spending

President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali has criticised the former APNU+AFC Coalition Administration for what he described as non-productive expenditure during its time in office, which resulted in a rapid decline in key sectors.

The president was responding to the opposition’s criticisms of his government’s spending profile during a live broadcast on Sunday evening.

He highlighted that from 2015 to 2020, under the opposition’s tenure, recurrent expenditure was five times higher than capital expenditure, which stifled infrastructure development and economic growth.

President Ali further underscored the previous government’s misplaced priorities, citing the discontinuation of the ‘’Because We Care’ cash grant and the absence of new health and education infrastructure.

“There was no investment in education, no new schools, the maintenance of buildings, no new hospitals…What they spent on dietary, on food for themselves in government in 2019…was more than the entire capital budget for education and health combined. The expenditure profile or the nature of spending by the APNU+AFC was what we term non-productive expenditure,” the president stated.

He emphasised that his administration, aligned with its 2020 manifesto, has shifted focus to capital projects, aiming to reduce the infrastructure gap, improve access to essential services, and boost international competitiveness.

President Ali also recalled that in 2015, shortly after taking office, the then APNU+AFC government awarded itself a 50 per cent salary increase.

“This is the same set of people that promised an immediate 20 per cent increase to the teachers and others. If you look at the teachers and public servants during that period, they had to wait for their salary increases. Two years after the APNU+AFC assumed office…it granted salary increases way below the campaign promise of 20 per cent.” the president reminded.

In 2018, he explained that the Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers Union agreed to a 12 per cent increase for 2016, an 8 per cent increase for 2017, and another 8 per cent increase for 2018.

He compared this with salary increases granted under the PPP/C Government, ensuring no preferential treatment. This also ensured ministers and officials received the same increases as other public servants.

The head of state also outlined several other indicators of the previous administration’s poor performance while in office, including the sugar industry’s collapse, the decline in the bauxite industry, and the termination of 2,000 Community Service Officers (CSOs).

“In the mining, forestry, and bauxite sector alone, directly and indirectly, it is estimated that more than 30,000 workers were affected. Directly and indirectly, in the sugar belt, more than 20,000 families were affected,” he underlined.  

Moreover, President Ali stated that throughout its entire tenure, the APNU+AFC Government failed to deliver any major development projects to improve the lives of Guyanese.

In contrast, he emphasised that major development projects are a cornerstone of his administration’s policy, citing several examples, including the new Demerara River crossing, the gas-to-energy project, and the nationwide enhancement of drainage and irrigation systems.

“They did not invest in infrastructure. They did not invest in the road network. They did not invest in housing. They did not invest in water…These are things that are productive, that lead to the expansion of production, productivity, [and] the creation of wealth,” the president added.

The investments that the current government is making have a tremendous ripple effect on the economy, according to President Ali, boosting private sector investment and international competitiveness.

They are also aligned with addressing the needs outlined by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), especially about infrastructure.

The president also highlighted an estimate from the IDB, which indicated that between US$9.4 billion and US$23.8 billion will need to be invested by 2030 to upgrade the country’s transportation network, expand the energy grid, and improve water, sanitation, and telecommunications infrastructure.

”That is where the PPP/Civic expenditure profile is and what we’re targeting,”   he stressed.