Auditor General 2023 report: Govt implementation rate of projects improves to 131%

…while managing budget of $283.9B for locally funded projects

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government’s implementation of public projects, captured under the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) rate in the Auditor General’s (AG) 2023 report, improved to a 131 per cent rate.
This is an improvement since last year, the implementation rate was 130 per cent. And just a few years ago, under the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government, the 2018 AG report had recorded a PSIP implementation rate of a mere 92 per cent.

According to the AG report, public investment programmes financed from the national coffers showcased strong performance. This is even as the work programme expanded, in a number of key areas.
“The outturn of the locally financed portfolio was aided by an expansion in the work programme via additional resources sought and approved in key areas including security, energy, and upgrading of health and educational facilities, drainage and irrigation infrastructure and community roads and bridges. Consequently, the local PSIP recorded an implementation rate of $131 percent of the $283.904 billion allocated,” the report stated.
However, in cases where programmes and projects were financed by Guyana’s multilateral and bilateral development partners, there were some delays which had a lot to do with the process of approving financing for these projects.
For instance, the Highway Improvement – East Coast Demerara (ECD) Project, being administered by the Public Works Ministry with funding from China, saw only $11.4 billion being spent out of an approved budget of $16 billion at that point in time.
“This shortfall stems from the fact that permanent works did not commence as planned, leading to considerable delays. Alongside this, another critical project under the same funder—the New Demerara River Crossing—faced an even more severe setback. Despite being allocated $4.5 billion, no work has commenced, resulting in a $4.5 billion variance. This project has been held back due to a delay in the approval of financing, which has stalled progress entirely,” a recent statement from the Government said.
“The Linden-Soesdyke Highway, funded by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) under the Public Works Ministry, was approved with a $5 billion budget. Unfortunately, this project has also faced delays, with only $55.9 million spent, leaving a $4.94 billion variance. The delays here are primarily due to the slow procurement of contractors, which has significantly pushed back the timeline.”
Nevertheless, when it comes to the Linden-Soesdyke Highway, a US$161 million contract was signed in August with Trinidadian firm Namalco Construction Services, which partnered with local company GuyAmerica Construction Inc.
When it comes to the health sector, only $17.8 million was utilised from a budget of $1.5 billion for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) funded Health Sector Improvement Programme. The main reason for this delay had been a lengthy concept design phase, which has prevented the project from advancing at the expected pace.
“The Housing Development Programme, funded by the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) and managed by the Ministry of Housing and Water (MoHW), is also facing similar hurdles. With a budget of $2.1 billion, no funds have been spent due to delays in hiring design review consultants,” the Government statement had also said.
“As for the Linden-Mabura Road & Kurupukari Bridge Project, funded by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and overseen by the Ministry of Public Works, it was allocated $10 billion. However, slow implementation has resulted in only $3.25 billion being spent so far, leaving a variance of $6.75 billion.”
Meanwhile, the AG’s report also notes that capital expenditure for 2023 totaled $421.819 billion, representing a $34.020 billion increase over the approved allotment of $387.800 billion. According to the report, the approved allotment for Capital Expenditure increased by $169.961 billion when compared to the corresponding period for 2022.
“The Ministry indicated that the Capital Expenditure was projected at $387.8 billion but recorded an outturn of $421.819 or $108.8 per cent of the approved budget,” the AG noted in his report. (G3)