2015 budget may see increase in pension – Ramsammy

By Jomo Paul

[www.inewsguyana.com] – People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Executive and Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy has hinted  that the 2015 fiscal budget may see an increase in old age pension from $12,500 to $15,000.

This comes after the political opposition – A Partnership For National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) had promised to increase the pension to $15,000, and institute a 13% increase across the board for public servants should the coalition be elected to office following the May 11, general and regional elections.

Ramsammy at a Press conference at Freedom House on April 02 chastised the opposition for its proposed increases to public servant salaries and old age pensions.

He pointed out that during the People’s National Congress (PNC) era there was a wage freeze and certain conditions had to be met before senior citizens could have access to old age pensions.

He further cemented his claim pointing out that under the PPP/C there has been no wage freeze with steady increases for pensioners and public servants. The Minister said that “before the 2015 budget you would see pension has increased to $15000.”

This comes in spite of the fact that Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh had said that the APNU+AFC coalition has exposed its level of political desperation with its resort to utter promises of random “goodies”.

“This is nothing short of a blatant attempt to bribe voters and is a gross insult to the Guyanese people,” Dr Singh said describing the increases.

According to Minister Singh, what is worse is that the members of the APNU+AFC bloc have become notorious for inconsistency; offering a different set of “goodies” every time they speak.

Singh noted that salaries and old age pension have seen steady and sustainable increases over the last 20 years under the current Administration.