The Government of Guyana has adjusted its growth forecast for 2023, elevating it from 25.1 percent to 28.2 percent. This revision, evident when comparing the administration’s mid-year report with the 2023 National Budget, is attributed to the robust performance of the oil sector and its positive ripple effects on several non-oil industries.
The three primary non-oil sectors driving this surge in GDP growth are construction, manufacturing and services. Based on the promising first-half performance in 2023 and the anticipation of heightened construction activities later in the year, the growth rate for the construction subsector has been nudged up from an initially projected 17 percent to 17.1 percent.
As for the overall manufacturing sector, it is now projected to grow by 7.8 percent this year. It was initially forecast to grow to 5.7 percent.
Growth for the services sector has also been upgraded to 7.8 percent in 2023.It was originally projected to move to 5.6 percent.
Concerning the oil and gas subsector, the government anticipates the coming onstream of the Prosperity FPSO in the last quarter of the year. The administration’s mid-year report says the industry is now forecast to grow by 39.6 percent in 2023. This is an increase over the initial projection of 35.6 percent in the 2023 budget.
Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo was keen to note that the performance of the economy at mid-year is a testament to the government’s strategic approach to building out a diversified economy. He was also keen to give due credit to the spillover effects of the oil and gas sector.
“We will continue at this because we have a strategic focus…Right now we’re putting in the infrastructure that would help us in the future like the highways, port development, the power plants, and digitization of the economy …,” the official said.
He concluded that these foundational endeavors are pivotal for the government’s ambitious goal of ensuring Guyana experiences exponential yet sustainable growth in the coming years.
