The announced $200,000 per household one-off cash grant will only go to Guyanese households, and non-nationals will not benefit, according to Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo.
At a press conference on Thursday afternoon moments after the President’s announcement of the grant, Mr. Jagdeo clarified that when the President said every household will benefit, he was referring to every Guyanese household.
“Non-nationals are not eligible. These are Guyanese families, Guyanese households, not non-nationals. If you are not a Guyanese household, you are not getting this money,” the Vice President told reporters at his weekly press conference.
The Government said the cost-of-living relief initiative would see the injection of $60 Billion of disposal income into the Guyanese household countrywide.
Mr. Jagdeo explained that the Government is still working out the modalities for the disbursement of the grant, but it is likely that they will rely heavily on data from the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) company and the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) as part of the verification process for households.
He said apart from those persons residing in Regions One, Eight, and Nine, and parts of Region Seven, and the riverain communities, there are approximately 220,000 persons paying electricity bills for their households in Guyana, and that data will be used.
“So, clearly if you know someone is paying their electricity bill, that is going to be a household, they are paying an electricity bill for a household. So, we will have to use the data from GPL, GWI and then go through a process. So, if for example I have multiple buildings, and I am paying five meters, I am not going to get five households, we will clean up that list. So, if you have meters, you are not going to get that. But assuming I am paying for five tenants now, and five different groups, the five tenants could then claim,” the Vice President explained.
He noted that special provisions will be made for persons living in rented homes, and who may not be responsible for the payment of the water or electricity bill.
The Vice President said during the issuance of the COVID-19 cash grant, the Government first directed its attention to primary households, those families living in their own homes or renting an entire building, and then secondary households, which represented multiple families living in a single building.
Meanwhile, in the Hinterland communities, the Government intends to rely on data from the Toshaos and Village Councils to determine the number of households to benefit.
But the Vice President was the first to admit that the task ahead is not an easy one, saying that the Government is cognizant that there will be persons who may attempt to trick the system.
“It is not an easy task when you are dealing with large numbers of people, and you have like 5% of them, who are looking to cheat the system, deliberately set out to cheat. We are not starry-eyed about this, you know, and these people, who try to cheat, they come from every party, APNU, AFC, PPP, that’s one thing they are united about, trying to beat the system. So, we have to watch out for everyone, whether they are PPP, APNU or AFC,” the Vice President said.
Turning his attention to the tax measure that was also announced by the President, the Vice President said Guyanese parents, starting from January 2025, would see their income tax threshold adjusted based on the number of children they have.
Based on the measure, each child will entitle one of their parents to an additional $10,000 per month on their income tax threshold.
“It has to be on a monthly basis because you pay your taxes [and] it is deducted on a monthly basis. So, for example you are earning $120,000 a month, you have two kids, you get a quote, you are now eligible for deductibles for two kids. The threshold now, is a $100,000, so you now have to pay taxes on the $20,000 because the tax-free threshold is $100,000, and so, your tax-free threshold now goes up to $120,000, so then you don’t have to pay any taxes,” the Vice President explained.
Free university education from January 2025, and a 50% reduction in electricity costs by the end of 2025 were among the other announcements made by the President yesterday.
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