RESPONDING to Opposition Leader David Granger’s claims of being sidelined from the budget consultations, Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh has said his invitation to the main Opposition coalition for budget consultations has been met with “stony” silence.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Finance Minister said, “My most recent email, dated January 13, 2014, indicated Government’s invitation to meet on Budget 2014, and requested Mr. Greenidge to suggest a date during the past or coming week.

“The email was also copied to Messrs. David Granger, Lance Carberry, Khemraj Ramjattan, Dr. Roger Luncheon and Ms. Gail Teixeira. The email also contained copies of documents to be discussed.

“To date, my invitation has been met with stony silence by Messrs. Granger and Greenidge.”

The Finance Minister dubbed Granger’s claims a “cheap publicity” stunt. He said Granger’s claims, recorded in an article published in the Kaieteur News yesterday under the headline “APNU says it’s being sidelined from Budget consultation — will force implementation of reforms if concerns not taken on board”, reflect a blatant lie by the main Opposition coalition.

NOT THE FIRST Dr Singh said, “It is also important to note that this is not the first invitation that has been issued to the Opposition to discuss the 2014 Budget, as a Government team has already initiated discussions with the Opposition in the latter part of 2013.

“I do not wish to speculate on whether this was a case of an internal breakdown in communication in the leadership of APNU between Messrs. Greenidge and Granger, but the fact of the matter is that the Government of Guyana has issued an invitation to the Opposition to meet, and that invitation has not received a response.”

The Finance Minister flayed the Opposition Leader for his apparent interest in only “engaging in attacks in the media and political grandstanding”, both acts he termed regrettably based on misrepresentation of the facts.

“Mr. Granger would be well advised, instead of occupying himself with making accusations in the media, to instruct Mr. Greenidge to respond to my email dated January 13, if he has the authority to do so,” Singh said.

He added that Government remains open to meet with the Opposition, as has always been the case. “We look forward to a response by the APNU to our invitation to advance discussion on Budget 2014,” the minister stressed.

Efforts at tripartite talks have been made since President Donald Ramotar had made a commitment in 2011. However, those efforts have been challenged by the inability of parties to reach a consensus. The last meeting between the three parties, the 2013 budget consultations, ended on a bad note. Consequently, the opposition parties gutted the budget by $31.4 billion, reducing it from $208.8 billion to $177.4 billion.

Within a few months, the national budget will be presented to the National Assembly. Written By Vanessa Narine