Dear Editor,
President Irfaan Ali’s caution (Stabroek News January 18, 2025) that repeated “cash grants” are not sustainable is a fair point, especially if the country is serious about long-term resilience rather than short-term political sugar highs. But it is hard to ignore the irony that this message was delivered at the launch of a private banking service aimed at high-net-worth clients—an event that, by definition, speaks to a rapidly widening gap between those accumulating wealth and those simply trying to keep up. Citizens can judge for themselves whether this is, in effect, eye-pass to the many households facing daily cost pressures.
If the Government wants the national conversation to mature, a practical starting point is to stop calling these payments “cash grants.” The label sounds episodic, discretionary, and politically timed. A more serious framing would be Targeted Support to Guyanese Households, with clear eligibility criteria, transparent delivery, and published objectives tied to cost-of-living pressures and vulnerability. That terminology signals policy intent and accountability, not goodwill.
Alternatively, if the policy purpose is broad-based sharing of petroleum wealth—as indicated by the announced $100,000 payment for adults to be provided for in the 2026 budget—then we should name it plainly and design it accordingly: an Oil Dividend (or Petroleum Dividend). A dividend implies rules, predictability, and public reporting, precisely the kind of structured approach the President says is needed.
Guyana can choose targeted support, a dividend model, or a transparent hybrid. What we should not do is keep cycling through “cash grants” as a catch-all label, especially while celebrating the growth of private banking on one hand and urging fiscal restraint for household support on the other. And, by the way, if “financial inclusion” is truly a national goal, it sits awkwardly beside the fanfare around “private banking.” Inclusion is about widening access and lowering barriers for ordinary citizens and small businesses—not polishing bespoke services for the already banked and well-resourced.