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Georgetown, Ministry of Finance, January 9, 2023: Senior Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh today announced that Budget Day is Monday, January 16, 2023.

Dr. Singh has been over the last several months meeting and consulting with various stakeholders including the Private Sector, Government Ministries, other agencies and Civil society. Only last week, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, led by President Irfaan Ali hosted another consultative meeting at State House with representatives from several private sector and other agencies to listen to their concerns and receive suggestions for Budget 2023. These all formed part of possible inclusions as the Budget 2023 planning process continues.

As with Budget 2022, this year’s Budget is expected to see critical development programmes for Government being fast-tracked and many more expanded to reflect Government’s continued transformational agenda for the country which has been taking it forward at a rapid pace over the last two years and months since the PPP/C’s return to office in August 2020. It will be the third Budget presented since by the current administration and the second one for Dr. Singh who commenced his current tenure as Senior Finance Minister in November 2020. Prior to this, Government’s first Budget for their current term was presented in August 2020. In that first Budget Government reversed a large number of harsh taxes instituted on citizens by the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) Government.

The second Budget in 2021 was presented under the theme ‘A Path to Recovery, Economic Dynamism, and Resilience’ while the third was unveiled under the theme “Steadfast Against All Challenges, Resolute in Building Our One Guyana’. Budget 2021 comprised a number of developmental measures and also included funding for the construction of a number of housing schemes and expansion of existing ones along with investment in the revitalization of the country’s sugar industry. There were also programmes which the Government implemented in partnership with private sector bodies and other stakeholders especially with regard to the tourism, hospitality and agriculture sectors. Several relief cash grant measures were also implemented and saw thousands of citizens across the country benefitting from the relief. A number of areas had been devastated by flooding and Government also provided relief for affected persons especially those who had suffered loss of crops and livestock. The Health, infrastructure and education sectors also saw major injections in Budget 2021 as the COVID-19 Pandemic was ongoing.

Budget 2022 also saw major injections in a number of sectors including more expansion of Government’s housing drive, the infrastructure sector catapulted with an increased number of roads and bridges constructed, energy expansion and diversification, provisions for persons with disabilities, several injections toward Amerindian and Hinterland development as Government proved its commitment to bettering the lives of the indigenous people. It also saw large injections in the health, education and security sectors.

-with an expanded non-oil economy

Georgetown, Ministry of Finance, January 8, 2023: Guyana’s macroeconomic context continues to be one of a booming economy, with oil production driving growth in exports, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and government revenues and expenditures in the medium term. The non-oil economy is also projected to have a ‘better-than-expected turnout of 9.6 percent for 2022 compared to 7.7 percent projected in the country’s 2022 budget’. This is according to the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB’s) quarterly (December 2022 edition) publication “Caribbean Economics” under the sub-title ‘The Headwinds-Facing the Post-Pandemic Recovery’. This recent edition of the publication examined Caribbean economies and how they have been performing during the post pandemic period while analyzing what was done by their Governments to allow for the economic results in each.

In Guyana’s case. the IDB publication highlighted that ‘in its October, 2022 World Economic Outlook (WEO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) increased its estimates for oil production and GDP growth as a result of incorporating oil production from two additional floating, production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels’ which resulted in higher levels of production but at the same, considering higher energy prices, led to Guyana’s main export flows and as a consequence Guyana’s volume of exported goods was projected to rise by ‘an annual average of 50 percent over 2022-2026 in contrast to the IMF’s previous estimate of 22.5 percent in its April 2022 WEO (IMF 2022b). However, the publication also noted that GDP growth was ‘expected to significantly expand in 2022 and ‘includes stronger recoveries in some ‘non-oil sectors’. The publication back this up by highlighting that the non-oil economy is also expected to have a better than expected turnout of 9.6 percent for 2022 compared to 7.7 percent projected in the country’s 2022 Budget’. It also indicated that the main drivers of growth in the non-oil economy include agriculture, services, and construction.

Recognizing the importance of a strong, diversified economic base, the President Ali-led Government in the earliest days of oil production, placed the highest level of importance on a strong non-oil economy. This is evident with Guyana’s non-oil growth in 2022 projected at over 9 percent, building on the 4.6 percent recorded in 2021 and over the medium term is forecasted above global levels.

Currently, Guyana holds portfolio responsibility for Agriculture and Food Security in CARICOM. As such, the publication pointed out that in order to strengthen food security, government had promoted the Vision 2025 by 25 policy initiative, which sought to ‘reduce extra CARICOM food imports by 25 percent by 2025. The report noted also that ‘Guyana is among the governments in the region that have been organizing investment forums to promote technological improvements in agriculture and foreign direct investment’. The report pointed out too that Guyana ‘rapidly moved from being a net importer of agricultural products and mineral fuels, representing 8 percent of GDP in 2018 and 2019, to being a net exporter of the same commodities, with a trade surplus of 16 percent of GDP in 2020 and 31 percent in 2021 with the rest of the world’.

-as Government continues to demonstrate its commitment to the principles of transparency, accountability in management of Guyana’s oil resources

Georgetown, Ministry of Finance, January 6, 2023: Senior Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh today submitted Notification of Receipts to Parliament of all petroleum revenues paid into the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) during the period 1 st October 2022 to 31 st December 2022, pursuant to Section 33 (2) of the NRF Act 2021. This notification was published in the Official Gazette on the 5 th January 2023 and demonstrates the People Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government’s continued commitment to the principles of transparency and accountability in the management of Guyana’s oil resources. At the end of 2022, the balance in the NRF stood at US$1.27 billion.

It would be recalled that the NRF Act 2021, came into operation on January 1, 2022, replacing the illegitimate NRF Act 2019 passed by the APNU/AFC caretaker administration. The NRF Act 2021 allows for substantial improvement in the management of the natural resource wealth of Guyana including the establishment of a Board of Directors which is responsible for reviewing and approving the policies of the Fund and monitoring its performance, thereby separating the management of the Fund from the Minister responsible for Finance. Another key amendment in the new legislation is that the Minister of Finance could face up to ten years imprisonment if he fails to disclose the receipt of any petroleum revenue received by Government in the Official Gazette within three months of receipt of such monies.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its 2022 Article IV mission to Guyana in May- June of 2022, commended the PPP/C Government on the amendments made to the NRF Act and highlighted:
“The NRF Act was strengthened recently. After a thorough review, and while restraining the spending of the oil receipts, the authorities amended the NRF Act December 2021. The recent amendments set clear ceilings on withdrawals from the Fund for budgetary spending,’

The PPP/C Government intends to continue to manage Guyana’s oil resources in a clear and transparent manner, to the benefit of present and future generations.

-as Finance Minister, Chinese Ambassador sign Framework Agreement

Georgetown, Ministry of Finance, December 30, 2022: Senior Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh and Her Excellency Guo Haiyan, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Guyana today signed a Framework Concessional Loan Agreement to the tune of US$192 Million to finance Phase II of the East Coast Road Project. The signing was witnessed by Minister of Public Works Bishop Juan Edghill and other officials of the Ministry of Finance and the Chinese Embassy. Phase II of the project will include extension of the Railway Embankment Road into four lanes from Sheriff Street to Orange Nassau, extension of the main East Coast Roadway from Orange Nassau to Mahaica as well as rehabilitation of the existing East Coast Demerara road from Belfield to Orange Nassau which will allow for additional lanes. This Phase will also see the construction of 48 bridges and 22 culverts and another Bridge across the Hope Canal. The loan for the project is being provided by the Exim Bank of China. Phase I of the project was done during the previous term of the People’s Progressive Party /Civic Government (PPP/C) and included the extension of the East Coast main road.

Speaking at the ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to Guyana Her Excellency Guo Haiyan recalled that Guyana and China had recently celebrated 50 years of good relations, cooperation, mutual respect and mutual support and benefit and noted that China cherishes the friendship and cooperation with Guyana. She added that China is willing to strengthen this cooperation and the road- building project forms part of its global development initiative.

“We believe that the project borne through cooperation of the two countries will bring more benefit for people. The current financial situation is so volatile and poses a great challenge to developing countries and the concessional loan demonstrates China’s commitment to common development and gives a  indication of China’s confidence in Guyana’s development and in the two countries’ bilateral cooperation,” Ambassador Guo Haiyan added.

Making brief remarks as he witnessed the signing Minister of Public Works Bishop Juan Edghill noted that the road project is a major intervention in the road network along the East Coast corridor and will create greater accessibility, especially with the kinds of investments that the President Ali-led Administration is making and the possibilities of what could develop at Enmore in terms of industrialization and job-creation for people on the East Coast corridor.

“The already congested new four-lane needs to be supported by additional carriageways. It was the PPP/C while in office in the 2011 period that started that East Coast expansion and widening and here we are today. It will see the railway embankment from Sheriff Street (from the roundabout) to Orange Nassau being expanded into four lanes then the expansion of the East Coast. Then there will be the rehabilitation of the existing ECD road from Belfield to Orange Nassau. This will allow us to have additional lanes (four lanes on the railway embankment and for some sections-two lanes so that we’ll be able to see greater comfort in commuting into the city or out of the city while allowing for larger capacity in terms of containerized traffic to help with the movement of goods that will eventually evolve with the development of Enmore as a major job-creation centre,” Minister Edghill explained.

Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh prior to signing the agreement expounded on the ease of traffic congestion and decrease in commute time which the road project completion will allow for and the ramping up of economic activity and development occurring under the stewardship of the People’s progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) both in its current and previous terms in office. Dr. Singh also highlighted the increase in vehicular traffic due to more persons being able to own their own homes and vehicles while the PPP/C is in office. He also alluded to the increase in the number of trucks and other large vehicles carrying good and materials and noted that this is a reflection of the construction and development boom.

“This is something that we welcome…in response to it, we take very seriously the obligation to expand our road network to ease this pressure and so as soon as President Ali came into office, Government set about an aggressive campaign to immediately transform our transport network. We have seen already parallel bypass roads constructed on the East Bank. Today you can drive from Sheriff Street to Diamond without ever touching the traditional East Bank road as we know….,” Dr. Singh emphasized.

He added that Government is building an Ogle to Diamond Road so that there will be multiple roads, pointing out that Government is not only addressing the EBD, but also the ECD as Government continues building out to provide an additional artery for travel between the East Coast and the East Bank which ultimately form an important part of Government’s transport infrastructure modernization plans.

-in keeping with President’s commitment during meeting with Forestry stakeholders

Georgetown, Ministry of Finance, December 29, 2022: Following up on President Irfaan Ali’s announcement in October of a $900 Million Revolving Fund to boost Guyana’s forestry sector, Senior Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh today, on behalf of Government, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Demerara Bank Limited during a simple signing ceremony at the Ministry of Finance. As can be recalled, President Ali had indicated during his announcement that Government’s intention is to increase its focus on small, medium and community loggers and had noted that Government and Demerara Bank Limited will collaborate to make available the $900 Million revolving fund to increase production in the forestry sector. The signing was witnessed by Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat, forestry sector stakeholders including representatives of the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) and the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA).

The establishment of the Fund is expected to address some of the challenges faced in the forestry sector in terms of the availability of easily accessible, low cost financing, especially for small scale operators. Meanwhile, the $900 Million Revolving Fund comprises a commitment of $300 Million by the Government of Guyana and a further $600 Million commitment by Demerara Bank Limited to address the challenges. It is expected to be utilized by individuals or companies operating within the forestry sector for the purpose of increasing production and value-added products in the sector.

Speaking during the ceremony, Dr. Singh reiterated that despite Guyana’s economy growing due to the oil and gas sector, Government remains committed to ensuring that the country’s economy is also diversified and resilient and not dependent solely on the oil sector and as such is continuing to work towards the country building a ‘vibrant, competitive and rapidly growing non-oil economy’.

“Naturally oil and gas will be driving a lot of the incredibly exciting economic growth that we’re seeing in Guyana, in 2022 we’ll see out economy grow in excess of 50 percent of real terms and in 2023 we are going to see our economy continuing to grow by an astronomical 25 percent or thereabouts and this is expected to continue into the medium term based on current proven reserves comprised of 11 billion barrels of oil but ofcourse exploration is still ongoing…,” he added.

Dr. Singh pointed out as well that in keeping with Guyana’s historical and pioneering Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) which has resulted in Guyana being the first country to gain the first sale transaction of certified carbon credits under which Guyana has already earned US$75 Million as a first transaction of an ongoing series of transactions, that the realization of the forestry sector’s growth will be achieved in the context of continued responsible management of Guyana’s forestry resources and continued strong emphasis on value-added production.

Noting that access to financé has been a bottleneck for small loggers in Regions 1 and 10 in particular who are in need of same to capitalize or to recapitalize their operations as well as the need for available concessions to produce, Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat who witnessed the signing today, noted that the Forestry sector is in a better position than it was when Government returned to office in 2020 and that to date the GFC has allocated over 100 concessions to local small Guyanese loggers with the second issue being access to financing being addressed currently.

“So it is indeed pleasing for me as Minister of Natural Resources that we have reached this stage where we bargained (ofcourse with the intervention of His Excellency President Ali) with Demerara Bank Limited that we can now access finance for our small loggers, our sawmillers and to ensure that the forestry sector is being restored and returned to its former glory days,” Minister Bharrat added.

Minister Bharrat reminded that Government also has a housing project initiative with Barbados and St. Vincent and the boost to the forestry sector for further production through the MOU initiative signed today would assist in ensuring that there will be a further increase from that in 2022 and more production in the years beyond.

Signing on behalf of Demerara Bank Limited was General Manager Dowlat Parbhu who said that the Bank was pleased to partner with Government in the monumental initiative that will help to boost the sector. He recalled that the Bank has been supporting a number of sectors including agriculture alluding to the Bank’s launch of the Farmers’ Credit Line which provides loans to farmers for up to $1.5 Million at a very concessional rate. He noted that almost 300 farmers have been loaned financing from the last crop and this has helped many to return to the fields which in turn helps the sectors in Guyana which depend on rice especially.

“Today we are ensuring that for another sector in Guyana credit is available,” he added as he thanked President Ali for the initiative.

President Ali, in October had highlighted that financing through the Fund would be provided at an affordable interest rate of 4 percent and that Government would work in conjunction with the bank to prequalify persons based on recommendations from the GFC following which a system would be put in place to provide access to financing so that there would be an increase in cash flow for production. He had also emphasized that his Government is committed to supporting small, medium and community-based loggers but that there must be “clarity, good governance, transparency, accountability and a system that works”.

-Over $47B secured for transport infrastructure, security, support to electricity companies

Georgetown, Ministry of Finance, December 5, 2022: Supplementary allocations totaling over $47 billion for support to various major sectors including transport infrastructure, energy and security were today secured when Senior Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh successfully piloted the Supplementary Appropriation Act, Number 2 of 2022.

The Supplementary Appropriation Act comprising Financial Papers Numbers 2 and 3 of 2022 and totalling $2.9 billion and $44.4 Billion respectively were presented by the Minister on November 30, 2022, after which they were meticulously scrutinized and debated, with the Opposition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) posing a number of questions before the Motion was passed on Monday.

As Government continues to aggressively implement its transformative development agenda, funding was secured for a number of key development interventions. Provisions totalling $2.9 billion Contingency Fund advances for the period August 15-November 29, 2022 in Financial Paper Number 2 include $740 million to conduct urgent drainage works including rehabilitation of drainage channels, access bridges, revetments and dams along with the installation of stainless steel sluice doors in Regions 2 to 7 including Georgetown. Also included in this paper is $1.7 billion of additional resources for the Linden Electricity Company Inc.

As Guyana continues to be a global leader in the fight against climate change, $360 million was provided for the payment of the issuance fee for forest carbon credits under the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) TREES programme for the period 2016-2020. It was only on Friday last that Guyana became the first country in the world to be issued with carbon credits for forest protection when ART issued the world’s first TREES credits to Guyana. It marked a historic milestone for the country making it the first time a country has been issued carbon credits specifically designed for the voluntary and compliance carbon markets for successfully preventing forest loss and degradation — a process known as jurisdictional REDD+. This occurred following the completion of an independent validation and verification process and approval by the ART Board of Directors. ART issued 33.47 million TREES credits to Guyana for the five-year period from 2016 to 2020. Then, on Friday last as well the Government of Guyana signed an agreement with Hess  Corporation, a global oil and gas firm, with HESS committing to purchasing a minimum of US$750 million in carbon credits from Guyana with respect to the period 2016 to 2030.

With respect to Financial Paper No 3 of 2022, $44.4 Billion was approved. This included supplementary funding of close to $1.4 billion under the Office of the Prime Minister for provision of additional resources to support electricity companies in Linden, Lethem, Mabaruma, Kwakwani, Port Kaituma, Mahdia, and Matthew’s Ridge. Also significant in the Supplementary provisions is $6.6 billion for the provision of additional resources for the payment of electricity arrears to the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL). Back in March, 2022, President Ali had committed that the government would absorb the impact of rising fuel prices on the cost of services provided by electricity companies so that it does not translate into high electricity bills for the Guyanese people.

With respect to transport infrastructure, a priority area of Government, $18.2 billion was provided under the Ministry of Public Works for the provision of additional resources to facilitate the upgrading of roads and drains in various communities and $938.2 million for additional inflow under the Caribbean Development Bank’s programme to facilitate advancement of civil works on the Linden to Mabura Road Project.

With the ultimate goal of providing 100 percent water coverage for Amerindian Villages across the county by 2025, an additional $275.9 million is provided to facilitate water supply interventions in hinterland areas and the procurement of a new drilling rig.

Under the area of security, a sector which is of vital importance to the administration to ensure that the security sector is modernized to keep abreast with the modernization of the country, $371.1 million for the provision of additional resources to procure vehicles to boost the operational effectiveness of the Guyana Police Force under the Ministry of Home Affairs was also provided as part of the Supplementary Appropriation.

– for critical interventions of national importance

Georgetown, Ministry of Finance, November 30, 2022: Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance Dr. Ashni Singh today presented a Supplementary Bill Comprising Financial Papers Numbers 2 and 3 to the National Assembly to address a number o urgent interventions across several key sectors including Energy, Agriculture, Infrastructure and Amerindian Affairs.

The Financial Papers, together amounting to over $47 Billion, include Financial Paper No 2 of 2022 totalling $2.9 Billion which caters for Contingency Fund advances covering the period August 15-November 29, 2022 and provides for a number of interventions, including provision of additional resources to support the Linden Electricity Company and provision of additional resources to conduct urgent drainage works including rehabilitation of drainage channels, access bridges, revetments and dams along with the installation of stainless steel sluice doors in Regions 2 to 7 including Georgetown.

With respect to Financial Paper No 3 of 2022, $44.4 Billion is being sought, including supplementary funding of close to $1.4 Billion under the Office of the Prime Minister for provision of additional resources to support electricity companies in Linden, Lethem, Mabaruma, Kwakwani, Port Kaituma, Mahdia, and Matthew’s Ridge. Additionally, $6.6 Billion is being sought for the provision of additional resources for the payment of electricity arrears to the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL). Government remains committed to absorbing the impact of rising fuel prices on cost of services provided by electricity companies to ensure that it does not translate into high electricity bills for the Guyanese people. Approval is being sought for $1 Billion for the provision of additional resources for operational expenses to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) and $2 Billion for the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA).

Meanwhile, $18.2 Billion is also being sought under the Ministry of Public Works for the provision of additional resources to facilitate the upgrading of roads and drains in various communities, $938.2 Million for the provision of additional inflows under the Caribbean Development Bank’s programme to facilitate advancement of civil works on the Linden to Mabura Road Project, $275.9 Million for the provision of additional resources to facilitate completion of water supply interventions in hinterland areas and the procurement of a new drilling rig, and $371.1 Million for the provision of additional resources to procure vehicles to boost the operational effectiveness of the Guyana Police Force under the Ministry of Home Affairs.