Category: Publications

The purpose of these Estimates is to present to the National Assembly information on the expenditure requirements and revenue forecasts of the Government for the fiscal year and, where required, to seek authority for such expenditure through an Appropriation Act. The authorities identified in these Estimates are divided into two categories: appropriated and statutory. Appropriated authorities are those for which the Government must seek approval from the National Assembly on an annual basis. Statutory authorities, e.g., public debt, are those for which the National Assembly has already provided on an ongoing basis, through the approval granted by specific legislation containing an appropriation authority. These are included in the Estimates for information only.

The basic structure of the Estimates presented to the National Assembly takes the form of three volumes and follows a theme of presenting the initial data at a high level of aggregation followed by more detailed information. Volume 1 is divided into four Sections. Section 1 – The Expenditure and Revenue Plan – summarises the Current and Capital Expenditure requirements of the Central Government, and forecasts of Revenues; Section 2 provides details of the Current Expenditure requirements of each Agency within the Estimates; Section 3 gives details of the Capital Expenditure requirements of each Agency within the Estimates; and Section 4 provides specific macroeconomic data in support of the Budget, selected personnel related data, and the budgets of Statutory Bodies and Constitutional Agencies for the fiscal year. Volume 2 describes the Programme structures, indicators, objectives, strategies and impacts of each Agency as well as summarised financial performance data. Volume 3 provides information on the profiles of projects included in the capital expenditure plan.

Download Volumes:

Volume 1

Budget Estimates 2020 – Volume 1

Download Now!1347 Downloads

Volume 2

Budget Estimates 2020 – Volume 2

Download Now!644 Downloads

Volume 3

Budget Estimates 2020 – Volume 3

Download Now!605 Downloads

The End of Year Outcome Statement for the year 2019 is being presented as an update to the Mid-Year Report of 2019, instead of the usual update to the end of year projections that would have been included in the 2020 National Budget to Parliament, in November 2019, as part of the established annual budget cycle. As is well-known, this did not happen because of the political situation that unfolded, which necessitated the holding of General and Regional Elections before the due date. In light of those developments, Parliament was dissolved on December 30, 2019, resulting in the postponement of the preparation and presentation of the 2020 National Budget to a date to be determined in 2020. Budget 2019 was presented under the theme “Transforming the Economy, Empowering People, Building Sustainable Communities for the Good Life,” and was the second earliest presentation in the post-Independence history of Guyana.

This report is prepared pursuant to Section 67 of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act (FMAA) 2003 that prescribes that a mid-year report shall be produced in a manner and format prescribed as follows: “A mid-year report shall include – (a) an update on the current macroeconomic and fiscal situation, a revised economic outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, and a statement of the projected impact that these trends are likely to have on the annual budget for the current fiscal year; (b) a comparison report on the out-turned current and capital expenditures and revenues with the estimates originally approved by the National Assembly with explanations of any significant variances; and (c) a list of major fiscal risks for the remainder of the fiscal year, together with likely policy responses that the Government proposes to take to meet the expected circumstances.”

Mid-Year Report 2019

Download Now!999 Downloads

Mid Year 2019

The undertaking of the First Voluntary National Review has been, as expected, a technical, data-intensive process. Guyana has been and remains committed to evidence-based reporting and results-oriented planning. The VNR process aligns with these commitments and further reinforces the importance of strong data systems and institutions. Notwithstanding the late confirmation of Guyana’s participation at the High Level
Political Forum 2019, the country undertook what should have been a nine to twelve month review process in just under six months. A key consideration in developing the VNR is the desire to comprehensively tell Guyana’s story, supported by as much as data as possible.

The review process began with the development of a data collection tool by the Ministry of Finance which was issued in January 2019, to all Budget Agencies. A high-level VNR workshop was also hosted, in March 2019, which sought to improve awareness, understanding and ownership of the SDG Targets, facilitated technical group discussions on indicators and, ultimately, attempted to accelerate the data collection process required to prepare the VNR. Over the subsequent months, the varying capacities across agencies demanded the Ministry of Finance work closely with the Budget Agencies in one-on-one sessions to assist in various capacities including:

1) understanding some of the SDG Targets

2) self-assessing the relevance of existing data and indicators to the SDG Targets

3) developing new indicators based on existing data sets and

4) advising on areas of future focus for planning.

The VNR process, including stakeholder engagement, was also supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Presidency.

First Voluntary National Review High-level

The undertaking of the First Voluntary National Review has been, as expected, a technical, data-intensive process. Guyana has been and remains committed to evidence-based reporting and results-oriented planning. The VNR process aligns with these commitments and further reinforces the importance of strong data systems and institutions. Notwithstanding the late confirmation of Guyana’s participation at the High Level
Political Forum 2019, the country undertook what should have been a nine to twelve month review process in just under six months. A key consideration in developing the VNR is the desire to comprehensively tell Guyana’s story, supported by as much as data as possible.

Download Now!480 Downloads

Highlights of Guyana’s Public Debt for the Second Quarter Ended June 30, 2019:

• Guyana continues to manage its public debt in a prudent and sustainable manner, maintaining a moderate exposure to risk of debt distress
• At the end of June 2019, the total stock of public debt was US$1,657.80 million, a 1.5 percent increase compared to the end-June 2018 position of US$1,633.97 million. This increase was mainly attributable to higher net flows, which were driven by substantially higher disbursements relative to principal repayments between June 2018 and June 2019. However, the total stock of public debt decreased by less than 1 percent from the end of first quarter 2019 position of US$1,660.16 million.
• External debt stock accounted for US$1,274.04 million or 76.9 percent of the total stock of public debt at end-June 2019, while domestic debt was about US$383.74 million or 23.1 percent.
• As at end-June 2019, the three (3) largest creditors in the external debt portfolio, ranked in order of share, were: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) – 41.1 percent; Exim Bank of China – 17.8 percent; and Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) – 11.9 percent.
• Total public debt service payments for the second quarter of 2019 amounted US$23.74 million, bringing the total debt service payments for the first half of 2019 to US$51.98 million. This represents a 17.3 percent increase from US$44.31 million for the first half of 2018.
• Total external debt service for second quarter of 2019 was US$17.27 million, leading to an accumulated US$42.23 million in external debt service payments for the first half of 2019, or 81.2 percent of total debt service. Domestic debt service payments amounted to US$6.48 million in the second quarter of 2019, and US$9.75 million or 18.8 percent of total debt service payments in the first half of 2019.
• In May 2019, Guyana fully repaid its debt to Trinidad and Tobago, in keeping with the Paris Club Bilateral Rescheduling Agreement signed on October 6, 2005. Trinidad and Tobago, which was Guyana’s largest bilateral creditor about two decades ago, generously wrote off US$482.5 million or 90 percent of Guyana’s debt as part of the Paris Club arrangements.
• For the first half of 2019, 7.6 percent of total government revenues went towards external debt payments, whereas 1.75 percent went towards domestic debt service payments, resulting in a total of 9.35 percent of revenues being utilised for debt service payments.
• Guyana made its first principal repayment to Kuwait for an amount of US$2 million in May 2019, in keeping with the terms of the Bilateral Debt Settlement Agreement signed in March 2019.
• Throughout the second quarter of 2019, Guyana continued to actively engage in debt relief negotiations with the remaining bilateral non-Paris Club creditors in arrears. Argentina, Libya, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Serbia have all been provided with proposals outlining various options to settle Guyana’s debt in a mutually acceptable manner.
• One (1) external loan for US$20 million was contracted in Quarter 2, 2019 from the International Development Association (IDA) to finance the ‘Guyana Petroleum Resources Governance and Management Project’. The Loan Agreement was signed on April 11, 2019. (For further details, see Table 10: External New Loans Contracted by the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana for the period January 1 to June 30, 2019).
• Disbursements in Quarter 2 2019 amounted to US$23.8 million, a 70 percent increase from the same period in 2018. This substantial increase was mainly due to improved project implementation, especially for projects funded by external financiers such as the Exim Bank of China. Overall, disbursements for the first half of 2019 amounted to US$35.2 million, a 13.5 percent increase when compared to the same period in 2018.
• As at end-June 2019, external disbursing loans which represented about 22 percent of the external debt portfolio, remained unchanged from the first quarter of 2019.
• Net inflows increased by US$7.7 million, from US$3.1 million in quarter 2 2018 to US$10.8 million in quarter 2 2019, resulting mainly from an expansion in disbursements. Net transfers grew in quarter 2 2019 by about US$7.6 million compared to same period in 2018.
• The US dollar remained the dominant currency within Guyana’s external debt portfolio, comprising 73.4 percent at end-June 2019, while the Renminbi Yuan accounted for the second largest share at 17.8 percent. The currency composition of Guyana’s external debt portfolio renders it susceptible to exchange rate risk. A depreciation of the Guyana dollar against certain foreign currencies, in particular the US dollar, would significantly increase debt service payments in Guyana dollar terms. Notably, from mid-2018 to mid-2019, the Guyana to US dollar exchange rate moved from $208.44 to $210.45. This means that Guyana has had to pay an additional $2 million for every million US dollars spent on debt service.
• Guyana’s total public debt portfolio was not highly exposed to refinancing risk, given that total short-term debt accounted for only 20.8 percent of the portfolio at-June 30, 2019.
• Notably, the domestic debt portfolio bore a high level of refinancing risk, since 89.6 percent of the portfolio consisted of Treasury Bills (T-Bills) which have a maturity period of one (1) year or less.

Public Debt Report, Quarterly Report June 2019

Download Now!500 Downloads