–At Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo 2025
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (DPI) – During the senior minister in the office of the president with responsibility for finance and the public service Dr Ashni Singh, presentation at the Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo 2025, Dr Singh outlined Guyana’s vast investment opportunities with special emphasis on the government’s continued plans and policies to support the building out of a diversified and resilient economic base that is globally competitive and attractive for doing business.
The senior minister also used the opportunity to assure investors that they have in Guyana and in the current government, a country and government with a long track record of sound and responsible economic management; and further encouraged investors to invest in the country as Guyana is a good place to invest in, not only for its business opportunities but also for responsible governance.
Recalling that the government has had a strong track record of responsible management of the economy, he alluded to the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic’s (PPP/C’s) previous terms in office when it reduced the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio from over 600 percent in 1991 to 38 percent in 2014.
Dr Singh added that with the party now back in government, the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio has reduced further to 24 percent in 2024, the second lowest in the western hemisphere. And reiterated that with its sound track record of responsible economic management and the newfound oil economy, the government is using this period to establish the foundation for a strong, dynamic and globally competitive non-oil economy.
“We are not waiting for the twilight hours of our oil economy, whenever that happens. We are doing that today!”
It was on this note that Dr Singh outlined the path of Guyana’s non-oil economic growth over the last half of a decade, highlighting that between 2021 and 2024, Guyana’s non-oil economy has grown at an average of 10.3 percent. He then pointed to the non-oil sectors which have shown robust economic growth including the services, agriculture, forestry and fishing, construction and infrastructure, housing and mining sectors.
Since the People’s Progressive Party/Civic’s reassumption to office in August 2020, a number of plans and policies have been implemented in a strategic manner to allow for the country’s economy to be diversified so as not to rely solely on its oil resource sector and to foster strong, broad-based and sustainable economic growth. The successful results have been seen all across the country with the country’s economy being one of the fastest growing in the world.
The senior minister also noted that the government, for the first time in 2022, transferred oil revenues to the consolidated fund following the passage of the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Act.
“We took a position that we will not use a single dollar of our oil revenue until we put in place a strong NRF Act. We did that in December 2021,” he reminded.
Underscoring the balanced approach that the government is using in terms of managing the economy, Dr Singh said that in relation to allocations in the budget, the government’s approach is to ensure it strikes a balance between meeting the immediate needs of the people, investing in infrastructure that matters in the medium and long term while also improving, increasing and expanding social programmes.
The Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo 2025 which was opened on February 18 under the theme “Connecting the dots: Integrating the future,” concluded on Friday, February 21.
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