Guyana to save over US$80M in export foreign currency by 2030 – Pres Ali

– as Govt works to build a competitive food market

In light of the massive developmental work across Guyana, President Dr Irfaan Ali is confident that the value of the Guyanese dollar will soon increase.
He stated that the Government’s investments in the local agricultural sector will see the country saving over US$80 million in foreign currency before 2030.
The Guyanese Leader who was at the time addressing business leaders and stakeholders at the International Business Conference, indicated that his administration is actively working to build a competitive food market in Guyana.
This, he said includes the exploration of lucrative crops including soya bean and livestock feed among others.
By the end of 2025, Guyana will save almost US$60 million annually if corn and soya bean are grown twice per year and livestock feed is estimated to reduce Guyana’s foreign exchange by close to US$30 million annually.
Additionally, foreign currency will also increase locally due to the growth of other lucrative crops such as fresh herbs, peas, cauliflower and kale.
“When you look at those three areas alone, the foreign currency savings is more than US$80 million. And you know, dealing with the currency, if you look at the valuation of assets, or look at your propensity to save versus your expenditure profile in the last 10 years, although income is rising rapidly, you will see that there has been very little disturbance in your propensity to save and your expenditure profile. Although in the last five years, we weathered significant global shocks, including COVID-19, two major floods, and the highest transport and logistics costs globally, we have still been able to maintain this stability. India, U.S., Guyana,” President Ali said.
According to Ali, Guyana can not only expect to save large sums of export foreign currency in the future but also experience an increase in the value of the Guyandollar.
“The currency is strengthening, and I just want to, I will answer this by saying two things. Whether we’ll adjust our rate? Now, it’s very easy when you have resources to say it does not look fanciful at 206 to 1 or 210 to 1. Let’s make it 6 to 1. But that is not the test that you should look at. I want you to look at a fluctuation of the currency against the dollar in a period of the last 10 years. And you will see the story of the currency. And then position that with other economies that you may want to compare with and you will understand also the distinct advantage that this floating exchange rate offers us. We are now building an export sector. We are now making that sector competitive,” Ali added.

Food increase
Back in June, the Government announced that the country earned as much as $919 million from exports of non-traditional crops to regional and international markets.
This represents a 12.7 per cent increase in food export sales when compared to profit made for the same period in 2023.
According to statistics provided by the Agriculture Ministry, legumes, peanuts, coconut, ground provision, and vegetables were among some of the produce exported so far this year, amounting to 4,156 metric tonnes of food worth $919 million.
Further, in 2023, the sugar industry grew by 28 per cent while it declined by 11.8 per cent in 2019. Rice expanded by seven per cent while there was a mere one per cent increase in 2019. The other crops sector grew by 4.1 per cent in 2023, while there was a meagre growth of 0.3 per cent in 2019.
Moreover, the livestock industry increased by 12.7 per cent in 2023 while 2019 recorded a decline of 3.5 per cent while the fishing industry increased by 37.8 per cent and 25 per cent in the aquaculture sector.
President Dr Irfaan Ali said that the increase in agricultural exports is a result of strategic investments made by his government coupled with a comprehensive approach towards boosting the promotion of climate resilient farming.