Guyana Energy Conference & Supply Chain Expo: Finance Minister lauds PPP/C’s track record of “responsible economic management”

– tells investors there is demand in all sectors
With potential investors from around the world converging on Georgetown for the 2025 Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo, Senior Minister with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, has assured of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government’s serious commitment to sound fiscal policies and decisions, noting that the Party has a long track record of responsible economic management.

Addressing delegates on Day Three of the Energy Conference on Thursday, Minister Singh highlighted the Government’s plans to build out a dynamic and resilient economy.
He told the audience that the PPP/C Administration recognised the importance of maintaining a robust and strong fiscal framework – something which it has been doing since 1992.
“You have in Guyana and you have this government, led by President Irfaan Ali, a country, and a government, that has a long track record of responsible economic management, and as investors for the long term… You’re investing for the long term and so you wanna know that the people who are doing this are serious, responsible, credible people who have a demonstrated track record, not only over the last two years, or over the last three years, or since oil started to be produced, or since oil was discovered, who have a long track record of doing this even in times in considerably greater economic difficulty,” the Minister noted.
Dr Singh recalled the “essentially-bankrupt” state of the country’s economy when the PPP/C first took office in 1992. However, this was eventually reversed over the next two decades under various PPP/C regimes.
In fact, he stated that from 1992 to 2014, Guyana’s debt to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) ratio was reduced from 617 per cent to 38.7 per cent – a feat that was achieved before oil was first discovered in May 2015, and way before production started in December 2019.
These responsible wealth management efforts, the Finance Minister added, continued in 2020 when the PPP/C returned to office.
“Long before oil was discovered, Guyana’s debt to GDP ratio was already brought down to 38.7 per cent. Today, Guyana’s debt to GDP ratio stands at 24.3 per cent – the second lowest in the entire Western Hemisphere,” Dr Singh asserted.
Similarly, the Finance Minister outlined that his government had been responsibly managing the country’s public debt, that is, money borrowed with external debt being racked up in a sustainable manner. As a matter of fact, external debt at the end of 2024 was just over US$2 billion.
He added that with prudent management of the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) – the overseas account where all Guyana’s earnings from the oil and gas operations offshore are being kept, there are now enough funds in the NRF – US$3.1 billion at the end of 2024 – to pay off the country’s entire external debt and still have more money remaining.
However, even with high earnings from the oil and gas sector, which were first tapped into in 2022, and despite a slew of reliefs to reduce the tax burden on Guyanese, tax revenues continue to be the top earner for the State.
According to the Finance Minister, this responsible economic management is demonstrated in the efforts being undertaken to set up a strong dynamic and competitive non-oil economy despite the country’s burgeoning oil and gas sector.
“We have grown investments in the [non-oil] sectors that really mattered in improving the quality of life enjoyed by every single Guyanese person, and that lays the foundation for robust, diversified, long-term economic growth… We’re doing all of that, recognising the importance of maintaining an extremely strong, robust and sustainable fiscal framework,” Dr Singh stated.
With an overall economic growth of some 40 per cent yearly from 2021 to 2024, Guyana’s non-oil economy recorded an average growth rate of 10.3 per cent from 2021 to 2024, and is projected to further expand at an average rate of 8 per cent towards the end of the decade.
The Finance Minister credited these performances to the robust growth across the various sectors, including agriculture, construction and mining – all of which have been bolstered by the PPP/C Government’s heavy investments in diversifying and strengthening the non-oil economy.
In addition to being a responsible government on the fiscal management side, Dr Singh further assured stakeholders that the Guyana Government also takes its climate and environmental credentials seriously.
“Guyana is one of the most environmentally and climate responsible in the world,” he posited, adding that even with oil, Guyana’s vast and biodiversity-rich forest cover – the second largest in the world and from which it is now earning carbon sale deals – will continue to position the country as a net carbon emitter.
“We mustn’t be shy about speaking about what’s happening on the climate side of things, because this is really a truly unique story, because we’re going to achieve peak oil production… and Guyana will still be a net carbon sink,” he posited.
On this note, Minister Singh invited investors to take advantage of the many opportunities that are available here and be a part of that unique story. He added that through robust local content legislation, there is now a conducive business environment to partner with local companies and individuals to leverage those opportunities.
“It does not matter what you produce or what you supply. There is demand for whatever it is that you’re producing or supplying in every single sector, whether it’s agriculture, forestry, tourism or energy… If there is anybody still asking why Guyana? Where else but Guyana would you hear such a fascinating and factual story unfolding?” the Finance Minister declared.