GUYANA took in US$495 million in Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in 2018, which was more than double what it had received in 2017.

This is according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in its report on Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2019.

The steep upturn was driven by investments in the hydrocarbons sector, which accounted for 77 per cent of total FDI, much of which was channelled into the development of the oil fields discovered by ExxonMobil in 2015. In the first phase of this venture, the Liza oil field is expected to begin producing up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day by early 2020. The company estimates these oil reserves at 5.5 billion barrels.

The Economist had reported that in a decade from now, Guyana could become the second-largest oil producer in Latin America and the Caribbean, after Brazil. FDI inflows to sectors other than the oil industry, accounting for nine per cent of the total, also grew.

As one example, the firm Movie Towne, of Trinidad and Tobago, has invested US$50M in an entertainment centre which opened in 2018. Guyana, over the years, averaged FDI flows of US$135M between 2005 to 2009; 2011 US$247M; 2012 US$294M; 2013 US$214M; 2014 US$255M; 2015 US$122M; 2016 US$58M and 2017 US$212M.

According to ECLAC, FDI flows to the Caribbean totalled US$ 5.623B in 2018. This reduction of 11.4 per cent relative to 2017 was chiefly due to a poor showing in the Dominican Republic. That country accounted for 44 per cent of the sub region’s total FDI followed by the Bahamas with 18 per cent, Jamaica 14 per cent and Guyana nine per cent, which marked up a 20-year high in FDI inflows.

The Guyana Chronicle reported on Thursday that despite claims of a slowdown in the economy the private sector here has increased its credit by 5.7 per cent to a total of $238.8B for the first half of this year, Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan said in his Mid-Year report on Wednesday.

The Private Sector Commission and its other surrogate organisations such as Georgetown Chamber of Commerce have been painting a picture of slow spending and a decline in the economy since the Coalition Government took office. Many persons have criticised these organisations for allegedly parroting the positions of the opposition. Minister Jordan said the evidence in the report tells a different story from what the private sector has been saying.

According to the mid-year report, at the end of the first half of 2019, net domestic credit of the banking system grew by 14.1 per cent over the same period last year, to $33.4B, supported by an expansion in both private and public sector credit. Total credit to the private sector increased by 5.7 per cent to $238.8B over the review period, faster than the past three years.

With a vibrant oil and gas industry on the horizon, Guyana’s economy will start growing by double digits from next year.

This was according to a top source, who said that Guyana’s economy will be thriving on the success of various sectors and the advent of petroleum. The country’s potential and acceleration was also proven when the Nasdaq Stock Exchange had reported that Guyana has the fastest growing economy in the world.

The New York-based stock market, the second largest in the world, made note of Guyana’s projected growth rate of 16.3 per cent during the four-year period 2018-2021 in its report.
It said that with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) size of $3.63 billion (2018 Rank: 160), a growth rate of 4.1 per cent in 2018 and 4.6 per cent in 2019, Guyana’s economy is expected to grow by 33.5 per cent and 22.9 per cent in 2020 and 2021 respectively.