MINISTER of Finance, Winston Jordan, says that International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission statement validating Guyana’s economy as growing and on track for major development is a nail in the coffin of naysayers.

On Tuesday, the Finance Minister told the newspaper that for some time, naysayers have been peddling a “doom and gloom” message about the performance of Guyana’s economy but proof of significant improvements under the coalition government is now visible to all.

Following a visit to Guyana from June 3-14, an IMF Staff team released a detailed statement which indicated that economic growth in Guyana strengthened in 2018 while a 4.4 per cent real economic growth is predicted for 2019. The team commended Guyana for setting its Natural Resource Fund (NRF) into motion and anticipated that greater revenues, which will come to the economy in 2020, can be better managed through the Fund.

Speaking on the sidelines of a government outreach to Bartica, the Minister stated: “If they didn’t want to hear it from the government, you heard it from a credible, independent institution that Guyana’s economy is being well managed and on track for ‘first oil’ and our citizens can expect tremendous benefits going forward using the oil proceeds so that it will benefit not just a small cabal — that had happened even when we didn’t have oil — but all the citizens of Guyana.

Jordan said that while some continue cry out about “political uncertainty”, these are the same groups of individuals that have been benefitting from an enormous upsurge in activity over the last 18-24 months. These realities, he stated, are not just a pat on the back for Guyana but they will send a signal to investors far and wide that Guyana’s economy is ripe for investment.

“You certainly can’t hide statistics from international institutions like the IMF and when they give you a stamp of approval it is taken by all donors to be the truth and from there flow investments; the international community will take note of this positive,” he said.
The Finance Minister noted that the IMF statement also pointed out areas, such as ring-fencing, in which the government must improve. The IMF had highlighted that Guyana does not have ring-fencing arrangement for the Stabroek Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) which could potentially affect the projected flow of government oil revenues.

In the statement, the IMF noted that local authorities are interested and working to implement clearer ring-fencing rules. “We are moving fairly quickly to close that loophole. The horse might have bolted but we can see to what extent the damage can be minimised,” he said.

He added that a $20M concessionary loan to Guyana from the World Bank will be utilised to recruit a range of experts in a variety of areas who will come on board in the next months. Jordan assured: “By ‘first oil’, March 2020, we should be in a better positon than we are in presently to manage our oil resources