Finance Minister Winston Jordan has made it clear that the revolving student loan fund at the University of Guyana has a sufficient cash flow to stand on its own to facilitate loans for students, hence there is no need for the Government to make allocations via its national budget at this point in time.
Minister Jordan recently declared during the debates on expenditures for this year’s budget that no provisions had been made for the UG student loan fund.
Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira after noticing the absence of the student loan fund in the 2016 Budget stated that some $1.6 billion has been allocated jointly for Berbice and Turkeyen campuses but there had been no mention of the student loan.
She then questioned whether or not the Administration had changed the ‘inherited position’ with the student loan, reminding that it had also been removed in last year’s national budget.
The Finance Minister while responding to the Opposition Chief Whip explained that the student loan will continue as a revolving fund.
“Last year, the student’s loan agency had accumulated enough money for the fund to now revolve, so the fund is revolving, so there’s no need for Government contribution at this time,” he declared.
Former education minister, Priya Manickchand sought to question Minister Jordan about the measures taken to recover the large outstanding sums of monies already owed by students. According to the Finance Minister, papers are before Cabinet and will arrange options that he did not wish to disclose until it has been considered.
So PPP left everything in tip top shape