Commending Govt’s policies for robust GDP performance

Dear Editor,
I am writing to add my voice in commending the Government of Guyana, under the leadership of His Excellency Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, by acknowledging the positive GDP performance mentioned in the concluding statements of the Article IV Consultation with Guyana, dated May 7, 2025. On the international scene, Guyana is being well recognised for this excellent performance.
This robust growth is a welcome indicator of the resilience and potential of our country, and it reflects the positive impact of the Government’s strategic policies. Real Human Development is not hot “verbal” air to be pontificated on a stage; it is hard, “back-breaking” work that requires careful project monitoring, implementation and decisions on the National Plans. The evidence out of Guyana is there for all to ascertain. We have seen what Dr Ali represents as a Project Leader on the national scene, and his excellent leadership on the big issues must be celebrated. So, yes, there is oil; but without careful leadership of the resources, we could very well be classified as one of the selected others who are loaded with oil, but because of poor management of this God-given resource, they have rendered themselves into another banana republic.
The output from his careful management of the economy does have an outcome, and I quote from the IMF document, “Real oil GDP increased by nearly 58 percent in 2024, while real non-oil GDP expanded over 13 percent, reflecting a solid broad-based performance across sectors.”
The bottom line is that Guyana is having tangible results under His Excellency’s tenure, with positive private sector build-outs. Therefore, the announcement in the Sunday Stabroek newspaper by none other than Mr Robin Muneshwer from the shipping magnate Muneshwers Limited (MSL) is just another spill-off from this positive and focused leadership. Mr Muneshwer announced a joint venture between MSL and John Fernandes Limited (JFL) to establish a US$285 million mega-commercial port facility at Blairmont in the West Bank Berbice area of Region Five.
This is the sort of transformative project that is desperately needed before 2030. But this sort of project does not happen by magic, it requires all stakeholders to be carefully aligned, especially within the public sector.
The last decade has provided enough evidence of who can do it and who cannot, and thus I leave it up to the people to deeply think about this statement and the experiences from the last decade. But with a growth rate averaging 47% over the last three years under Dr. Ali, it shows a clear trend of who has done it and who has not. I have done my research, and the best consistent growth rate over three years from prior records illustrates the closest to this performance was the “Asian Tigers”. The “Asian Tigers” (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong) experienced impressive growth over several decades, but even their peak growth phases typically didn’t reach an average of 15% per year consistently for three years. So, in the final analysis, Guyana’s economic performance under Dr. Ali since August 2020 has been nothing but extraordinary.
There is much more to say, but for now, enough has been said.

Sincerely,
Sasenarine Singh