The World Bank and Government of Guyana staged a high-level workshop on Stabilization/Sovereign Wealth Funds on Monday in the South American country’s capital, Georgetown, as part of a number of initiatives being taken to enhance knowledge and understanding of what is required to successfully manage the expected windfall from oil production.
Guyana’s Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, delivered opening remarks followed by World Bank Country Director, Latin America and the Caribbean Region, Tashseen Sayed Khan.
Presentations were made by Norwegian Economist and expert, Vidar Ovesen, and Polish Economist, Ludwik Kotecki. Mr. Ovesen’s area of expertise is revenue management of natural resources while Mr. Kotecki is an expert on fiscal rules.
The presentations touched on a number of critical areas relating to fiscal rules and Sovereign Wealth Fund management – examining best practices, lessons learnt in other countries and considerations for Guyana.
All Members of Parliament were invited to attend and participate in the discussion, as well as key stakeholders.
Guyana is expected to receive around 7 billion US dollars – which is equivalent to more than 1.4 trillion Guyana dollars – over the lifetime of the Liza Phase 1 project. Already, the operator, ExxonMobil Guyana, is putting systems in place for multiple phases of development offshore that would see the country’s daily production reaching around 500,000 barrels by 2025, further increasing Guyana’s take from oil production.
