PRESIDENT David Granger has signed into law, the Natural Resources Fund Act No. 12 of 2019, which was passed by the National Assembly.

The Act provides the legal framework for establishment of the Natural Resources Fund, which will manage the natural resource wealth of Guyana, said Minister of State Joseph Harmon during a press briefing on Friday.

“It will manage the wealth of Guyana for the present and future benefit of the people and for the sustainable development of the country,” said Harmon, adding that it is part of the preparation for imminent oil wealth.

The Natural Resources Fund Bill 2018 was passed on January 3, 2019, in the National Assembly without objections.

Minister of Finance Winston Jordan, in moving the second and third readings of the bill, stressed that a Public Accountability Oversight Committee, as catered for in the bill, will be appointed. Jordan said that the Public Accountability Oversight Committee will not feature any representative from the government or any ministry, or anyone from the opposition’s side of the House.

Harmon echoed the sentiments of the finance minister, noting that the law includes provisions for public oversight; withdrawals, including parliamentary approval and amounts to be withdrawn; eligible investments for its resources; accounting reporting and auditing of records; and codes of conduct for members of the Oversight and Investment Committee.
Included in the Act is the first schedule, which outlines procedures and considerations which shall obtain in calculating the fiscally sustainable amount of the fund.
Harmon said it also includes a second schedule which sets out the sealing for investment of the fund, with a purpose of long-term savings.

The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has lauded the government’s Natural Resource Fund as a positive step in the right direction towards protecting Guyana from the ‘resource curse.’

CDB Director of Economics, Dr. Justin Ram, spoke extensively on the fund being set up to manage the country’s large expected flow of oil revenue.

“I think that the proposals from the government are sound with respect to the Natural Resource Fund, whereby, the revenues go into the fund first and then there are applications by the government to spend those resources. That, I think, is critical and can help with mitigation, so that the ‘Dutch Disease’ or ‘Resource Curse’ does not happen in Guyana,” he told this newspaper.