DESPITE lamentations from opposition quarters over monies borrowed and incurred as debt by the Guyana Government, Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh said the administration has been extremely judicious in striking an appropriate balance between new borrowing to finance pending

development needs and ensuring that debt sustainability remains uncompromised.
The minister in the 2013 Budget, which the House will debate extensively in the coming week, said that the Guyana Government has expended “immeasurable effort to return our country to debt sustainability.”
According to the minister, at the end of last year, Guyana’s total external debt stock stood at US$1.4B.    This is less than what the country’s total exports earned last year and according to Dr. Singh, it represents an increase of only 12.7 percent in debt over the previous year.
He explained that this position was achieved in a large  part as a result of the financed component of oil shipments under the Petrocaribe arrangement with Venezuela.
Total external debt service in 2012 amounted to US$42.5M, according to Dr. Singh and he pointed out that it is but 6.4 percent more than in 2011.
He said that the amount paid comprised principal repayments of US$29.4M and interest payments of US$13.1M.

Petrocaribe debt reduced
The minister pointed out too that towards the end of 2012, Guyana signed its first debt compensation agreement with Venezuela, which reduced the Petrocaribe debt owed to that country by more than US$100M.
This, he said, is equivalent to the value of rice and paddy shipped from December 2009 to July 2011.
Meanwhile, government expects to conclude imminently a second debt compensation agreement which will reduce the Petrocaribe debt to Venezuela by a further US$186M, equivalent to the value of rice and paddy shipped from July 2011 to January 2013.
The national expenditure for this year’s $208.8B Budget will see just about $34.8B being sourced from outside of the revenues earned locally.
Dr. Singh has indicated that this year will see $29.8B of that money coming from loans and the remainder from grants.
The Inter-American Development Bank has been identified as a significant contributor, facilitating more than $8.2B, and included in the expenditure from the IDB would be the completion of the state-of-the-art forensic laboratory for the Guyana Police Force, among other projects.
China will also be providing a significant amount of money, just about $8B in loans, while other financiers include the Caribbean Development Bank, the World Bank and India, among others.