COVID-19: Functional Parliament, money; critical in Guyana’s fight against virus
A sitting of Guyana’s Parliament which was dissolved earlier this year
Chairman of the National Coronavirus Task Force (NCTF) Moses Nagamootoo today expressed concerns that Guyana could end up in trouble with its fight against the coronavirus as the country could run out of funds since there is not a parliament to approve funds and spending where necessary.
Nagamootoo was at the time made expressed the concerns during a Virtual Press Conference earlier Saturday afternoon where he stated among other things that a budget to safeguard Guyana amidst the current pandemic could run into billions.
Guyana’s Parliament was dissolved in early January 2020 paving the way for the holding of National and Regional Elections which were held on March 02, 2020. The results of those elections have not yet been officially declared as political parties are locked in court battles over who the real winner is; in the meantime, Guyana is without a functional parliament to approve spending.
“Government has been on a financial lockdown and can only spend 1/12th of its entire budget spending from the previous year,” Nagamootoo said during his conference. He also explained that in cases of emergency, the government will also have access to contingency and consolidated funs.
“But what will happen if these funds run out and Guyana still does not have a parliament?” asked a concerned Nagamootoo.
Notwithstanding that, however, Nagamootoo assured that Guyana will do all its best to acquire all the resources it can find to fund the country’s fight against the Novel Coronavirus.
Minister of Finance Winston Jordan, Nagamootoo noted, is currently working on an overview of all possible resources that can aid the fight against the deadly COVID-19.
Moses Nagamootoo reminded that Guyana has already approached the World Bank and requested a loan of five million United States Dollars to boost the country’s resources in the meantime.
“We are doing whatever it takes to protect Guyana from this epidemic, whatever resources there is available; the government will look to draw in all to fight coronavirus” iterated Nagamootoo.
The press conference was told that Guyana is also exploring measures to receive funding from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDC), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations (UN).
