Guyana’s Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Wednesday pushed back against claims that the country is flush with oil wealth, asserting that revenues from the sector fund only a fraction of national spending.
Speaking at the annual National Toshaos Council Conference, which brings together elected leaders of Indigenous villages across Guyana, Jagdeo criticized opposition politicians ahead of general elections later this year.
“You hear a lot about [the] oil and gas industry and how much money we have,” Jagdeo said. “So now they say, ‘Oh, the country is awash with oil money.’ It’s not true. You just have to read the budget documents.”
Guyana, a country of about 800,000 people, is one of the world’s fastest growing oil producers. Revenues from the offshore Stabroek Block, operated by a consortium led by ExxonMobil, began contributing to the national budget in 2022. The Guyana government has received almost US$7 billion in revenue from oil sales and royalties since oil production began in December 2019. It has withdrawn nearly US$4 billion of this amount to spend.
This year, the government approved a GY$1.146 trillion (US$6.63 billion) budget, with US$2.463 billion (about 37%) being financed through withdrawals from the country’s Natural Resource Fund (NRF). That’s up from 23% in 2022.
While Jagdeo acknowledged oil money’s role in public spending, he emphasized that the government remains reliant on traditional revenue sources for the majority of its expenditures.
“We are spending more on education, health, roads and bridges in this year’s budget than we get from all the oil money,” the Vice President said.
Jagdeo also accused the previous APNU+AFC administration, which governed from 2015 to 2020, of doing little to develop the oil sector, despite negotiating the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement with ExxonMobil. He said the opposition now seeks to exploit public expectations with what he called “fake promises.”
Since first oil in late 2019, Guyana’s petroleum sector has transformed its fiscal landscape. But even as the government accelerates infrastructure and social investments, it has warned that the country’s long-term development will depend on responsible fiscal management and diverse revenue sources.
Jagdeo, who has overseen much of the government’s economic planning since returning to office in 2020, has repeatedly cautioned against viewing oil revenues as a cure-all.
