Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh on Monday confirmed that Guyana is yet to receive €25M in budgetary support which has already been approved by the European Union (EU).Creating some amount of worry as well, is the fact that the EU has kept Guyana out of the loop as to its reasons for not releasing the funds.Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni SinghThe Finance Minister subsequently stated that the onus is now on the EU to provide those reasons henceforth.At a press conference held at the National Communications Network (NCN) on Monday, Dr. Singh told members of the media fraternity that Guyana had met its obligations regarding the budgetary support payments due to it by the EU. He said that this is confirmed in a written agreement between the two.Dr. Singh emphasized that government met all the EU requirements, targets, and the necessary environment to be in receipt of the payments.A large percentage of the EU funds received over the years would go to the sugar industry, but Guyana has been failing to meet all of the indicators to secure all the funding. Asked if the country met all the targets to qualify for all the funds this time,2018 NFL Draft Jersey, the Finance Minister said that almost all of the indicators were achieved and based on those,Alex Iwobi Arsenal Jersey UK, Guyana qualified for the disbursement of €$25M.He was also asked if he believes that the monies could be in jeopardy due to the delay in its disbursement.But the Finance Minister said that Guyana has an ongoing engagement with the Union and it never presented any “credible reasons” why government has not received the monies to date.He later qualified the actual reasons given to be “spurious”. Dr. Singh noted that Guyana was scored by independent graders of the Union and as such, it will continue to be guided by the agreement which articulates no reason for the withholding or delay of the approved monies.The Finance Minister also said that the Head of the EU delegation in Guyana, Robert Kopecký has written to the body in relation to the payment being made.To date,Nike Charlotte Hornets Authentic Jerseys, Guyana has received over $31B since the execution of the Guyana National Action Plan (GNAP) in 2006 on Accompanying Measures for Sugar Protocol Countries alone. But the ailing sugar industry has been unable to meet all of the indicators,Cheap Adidas Hockey Jerseys, thereby making it incapable of qualifying for full funding under the GNAP.A report at the 51st meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) disclosed that Guyana only received 70 percent of funds allotted from the accompanying measures.Just a few days ago, UK High Commissioner Andrew Ayre said that Guyana may be facing possible sanctions for operating without a Parliament. He had reportedly said as well that UK taxpayers would more than likely object to its government providing budgetary support to a country functioning without any means of parliamentary scrutiny.This was followed by a firm retort by Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon. He accused the EU and the British High Commissioner of conspiring to dishonour the longstanding budgetary support agreement between the EU and the Government of Guyana.Luncheon also hinted that the EU had reneged on an agreement with Guyana on budgetary support.“His attempts to damage Guyana’s credibility and its economic prospects are considered by Cabinet to be unpardonable…” Luncheon had said,Cheap Arizona Cardinals Hoodies, in response to the UK envoy.Luncheon even deemed Ayre’s comments in relation to withholding development aid as “most dastardly” and added that Government eagerly waits to see the departure of the “pariah.”Dr. Singh at his press conference was asked to comment on this and whether it was discussed at Cabinet, given Dr. Luncheon’s subsequent views. But he declined to venture into this realm.Meanwhile,Andrew Franks Dolphins Jersey, Kopecký has remained up to this point,Anthony Steen Dolphins Jersey, tight-lipped, on Dr. Luncheon’s “conspiracy” theory.
