President Dr. Irfaan Ali
Measures by Guyana government
Apart from posing a public health crisis, COVID-19 has also severely affected the global economy and financial markets.
This has triggered shortages in production and supply of goods on the global market, a disruption in shipping with world record pricing and a short supply of containers and cargo space. This has created a ripple effect globally, driving worldwide increases in inflation and cost of living.
The Irfaan Ali-led Guyana government has been cushioning external prices with cash transfer and removal of taxes on a slew of items over last year.
The government has been implementing measures in the midst of the pandemic to help citizens navigate these unprecedented times, with the removal of Value-Added Tax (VAT) on water and electricity, as well as on basic food items, basic household necessities, and on medical and educational supplies.
The Ali-administration also moved to make home ownership and home construction more affordable by removing the VAT on basic construction materials, increasing the ceilings on low income mortgage loans from $8 million to $12 million and on loans granted by the New Building Society from $12 million to $15 million, and doubling the ceiling on loans eligible for mortgage interest relief from $15 to $30 million.
Two major sets of interventions were also made to help farmers affected by flooding caused by the May-June rains, as well as to ease the impact of imported freight charges on the cost of living.
President Ali had announced a $7.8 billion package of assistance to farmers and households to help get them back on their feet and help bolster production in the wake of the devastating floods they faced, while a cap was introduced on the freight charges used to calculate taxes on imports.
Additionally, a further set of measures were announced, aimed at providing $2.6 billion worth of additional support to the most vulnerable in society.
These include a one-off grant of $25,000 to all old-age pensioners, equivalent to one month of old-age pension, benefitting 65,000 persons; a one-off grant of $25,000 to all public assistance recipients and persons living with disabilities, benefitting 25,000 persons; and an electricity credit paid to GPL on behalf of households consuming not more than 75 kilowatt-hours per month.
The credit to each household is equivalent to one month of their electricity bill, and will inject more than $200 million of disposable income to more than 40,000 households.
