GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The Guyana economy is expected to sustain growth of 25.1 percent this year with the Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh predicting that the growth rate will continue to exceed 25 percent in the medium term, over the next three to four years.
Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh addressing energy conferenceSingh told the 2023 International Energy Conference and Expo that ended on Friday that the achievement of real economic growth of 25 percent over a sustained period is an achievement that is rare, in the historical economic context.
“Mind you, that projection of 25 percent is based on current proven oil reserves and a production trajectory consistent with current proven reserves,” he told the delegates.
Singh, highlighting the macroeconomic landscape in which Guyana is functioning, said the government’s top priority is to ensure that the country achieves strong, sustainable, and tangible economic growth.
Last year, Guyana was ranked as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, with over 62 percent real growth.
“To put things in context, over the last three years, the Guyanese economy has tripled in size. We broke our nominal GDP (gross domestic product), and the size of the economy broke the one trillion dollar (One Guyana dollar=US$0.004 cents) mark in 2019 for the first time.
“In fact, we ended the year with nominal GDP of GUY$1.078 trillion. We ended 2022 with nominal GDP in excess of three trillion dollars,” he added.
Singh said while the country’s economic growth was driven by the oil and gas sector, the government is prioritizing the attainment of robust non-oil economic growth.
Last year, the non-oil economy expanded by 11.5 percent and Singh is projecting real economic growth in the non-oil economy of 7.9 percent this year.
“We are projecting real economic growth in the non-oil sectors solidly in excess of 5 percent through the medium term as well,” Singh said, noting that investors looking to do business in Guyana will be coming to an economic jurisdiction that has established a robust track record of economic growth in recent years, and a strong outlook in the medium term.
He said that all of this is being done within the context of the government’s recognition of the importance of maintaining a disciplined fiscal stance.
“We endeavor our best to maintain that fiscal deficit and we finance that deficit with extremely prudent borrowing,” Singh said, adding that Guyana has made remarkable progress in strengthening its public finances over the years.
He said just over 30 years ago, Guyana’s public debt to GDP ratio exceeded 600 percent however, now, the public debt to GDP ratio stands at 24.6 percent.
Singh said this places Guyana ahead of almost every economy in this hemisphere, and it puts the country in a position where it has significant headroom to borrow.
He said Guyana has a strong portfolio with multilateral and regional development institutions and a robust pipeline of official borrowing. This enables the country to finance its fiscal program without having to resort to expensive or uncompetitive borrowing options.
