Economy is projected to expand by a massive 49.7 per cent this year

As the Guyanese government continues to build out its national infrastructure, the Guyana Sea and River Defence Board (S&RDB) has granted its no-objection for 15 major waterfront projects.

This includes the establishment of shore bases to service the country’s growing oil and gas industry. This was revealed last week when Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill held a press conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Center (ACCC) to update the public on the developments under his ministry.

These developments are taking place in Guyana at a time when the global economy is plagued with myriad uncertainties but the Caribbean/South American country remains one of the fastest growing nations in the world. Its economy is projected to expand by a massive 49.7 per cent this year, according to the latest edition of the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects.

The report, issued last week, indicates a significant improvement from the one released in June 2021, which estimated Guyana’s growth at a mere 23.7 per cent. This means that, within the last few months, Guyana’s economic potential has doubled, as measured by the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The Guyana government will have access to US$607 million to spend this year from this country’s Natural Resource Fund (NRF) as it recently received US$74 million on its last one million barrels of oil for 2021. The Bank of Guyana Report on the NRF for the month of December shows that the closing balance of the account was US$607,646,570.

It has been reported that Guyana received US$74 per barrel of oil equivalent on its last lift. On December 30, 2021, President Irfaan Ali assented to the controversial Natural Resource Fund Bill, paving the way for the extraction of the entire amount to be deposited in the Consolidated Fund for budgetary use.