Guyana’s Natural Resource Fund (NRF), held at the New York Federal Reserve Bank, soared to US$1,391,406,433 at the end of November 2022. In its monthly statement on the Fund, Guyana’s Central Bank said the account received GY$36.9 billion (US$177.14 million) in profit oil but no royalties.
Interest income earned during that period was GY$860 million (US$4.13 million).
With there being no outflows for the month, the closing balance was GY$290.1 billion (US$1.39 billion).
Up to the end of 2021, the Fund had accumulated US$607.6 million, which was assigned to support Guyana’s 2022 budget. US$400 million of this has since been withdrawn in two tranches. The final withdrawal is expected before yearend.
The Fund is being supported by revenues from royalties and sale of Guyana’s share of crude from ExxonMobil’s Liza operations. The government projected that revenues for 2022 will add up to US$1.247 billion.
A revised Natural Resource Fund Act was passed in the National Assembly and assented to by the president on December 30, 2021. The revised Act assigns the responsibility for the preparation of the investment mandate to the Board of Directors. To date, there has been no investment mandate for the Fund.
However, the Board of Directors and Public Accountability and Oversight Committee (PAOC) have been appointed.
