Preparation of the 2026 National Budget has started, and the opposition APNU is griping that there has been no consultation with the Opposition on the budget plans and programmes.
The budget is expected to be presented to the National Assembly before the end of this month or early February. Chairman of APNU an PNC Reform Leader, Aubrey Norton today expressed worry over the way that the Government may allocate resources in its budget.
“The fundamental problem we face is the skewed allocation of resources into programmes and projects that allow family friends and favorites to get rich. Now, could the government change that paradigm? No! It is very difficult for them to produce a budget that serves the interest of the people of Guyana,” Norton told reporters during the coalition’s weekly press conference on Friday.
Norton said it is not likely for the Irfaan Ali Administration to produce a budget that is based on equity.
The 2025 National Budget was pegged at $1.382 Trillion, which was 20.6% bigger than the 2024 Budget. More than US$2.5 Billion in oil revenues were injected into the budget.
But while the Government has boasted of advancing infrastructure development in the country, Norton said there has been reckless spending of the oil resources as citizens still face many challenges.
According to Norton, between September 2024 and September 2025, the Government spent 89% of oil revenues earned. He said as a result, the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) has only grown marginally.
“Attempts by the Minister of Finance to boast about the size of the NRF, deliberately mislead the public. The reality is stark: had it not been for statutory restrictions, the Fund would have been nearly depleted under this wasteful administration. This is not fiscal stewardship; it is wastefulness, incompetence and corruption masked by selective storytelling,” Norton said.
APNU maintains that a percentage of the country’s oil wealth must be saved for difficult times and future generations while some must be invested and used strategically with transparency and accountability to uplift all Guyanese.
Norton said it should not be rapidly consumed to prop up a government with no long-term economic vision.
He said the situation is exacerbated by the potential negative economic impacts on trade by recent geopolitical occurrences within the Latin America and Caribbean Region.
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