As of March 10, Guyana’s Natural Resources Fund (NRF), the country’s Sovereign Wealth Fund in which all oil revenues are being deposited, had a balance of US$267,668, 709.12. This amount represents every cent earned from oil lifts and royalties from the commencement of oil production offshore Guyana in December 2019. Guyana’s Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, reminded in a recent interview that the fund remains untouched pending amendments that would allow for more transparency in its management.
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government, since in opposition had several objections to the NRF, chief among them being that it places too much control in the hands of the Minister of Finance. After being elected to office last year, the new government maintained it will be taking steps to amend the framework that was developed and passed into law by its predecessor.
“All of the money so far from the sale of oil and from the royalties have gone into the fund. We have not used any money since we got into office, from there. There may be need to use the resources in the near future but when we do so, it will be transparently transferred into the consolidated fund,” Mr. Jagdeo said on a GlobeSpan24X7 interview.
He pointed out that the projects for which these revenues will be used, will be debated in Parliament.
“So, we’re working now to amend or to change the legislation, the fund, and then whenever there’s a budgetary gap or there’s a project that needs funding, when we make a decision that we have to access the fund, we will do so transparently,” the Vice President said.
Guyana has an aggressive infrastructure development programme planned over the next several years that will see the construction of new bridges and road networks across the country. Mr. Jagdeo said these and other pressing needs, such as health care, means more of the revenues would have to be put to immediate use.
“We still have people who are poor, who need a place to live in, who don’t have good portable water, who need better quality health care,” he pointed out. “We need to get healthcare to world class levels, we need to invest our money in these areas too as well as other sectors of our economy so that when the oil is gone, we still have a booming economy unlike other countries.”
