-Finance Minister says this is proof that Guyana’s economy has expanded

SENIOR Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, has said that the increase in the active employed contributors to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) by some 75,000 persons, is evidence of the expansion in Guyana’s economy.

The minister made this remark during his address at NIS’s 56th Anniversary General Assembly on Monday, which was held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

He noted that the scheme has grown dramatically since its inception and has responded to the evolving dynamics in the Guyanese economy, and the same is reflected in the numbers.

“So, for example, if we simply look at the number of active contributors, these are people who are working and contributing, whether as an employed person or as a self-employed person. If you look at the number of active contributors, you see, in fact very dramatic expansion in recent years, consistent with the remarkable expansion and growth that we’ve been seeing in the Guyanese economy,” he said.

Against this backdrop, looking at the numbers, he noted that when President Dr Irfaan Ali first assumed office in August 2020, the NIS had 184,928 active employed contributors, and by August 2025, that number went up to 253,489 active employed contributors.

This is an increase, he said, of some 68,561 persons accounting for the growth of more than 37 per cent.

“That of course should not come as a surprise to us because we know from other data sources that over the course of the five years from August 2020 to August 2025, we know that during that period more than 60,000 new jobs were created,” he disclosed.

However, turning to the active self-employed contributors in August 2020, the NIS had some 6,210, and this increased to 13,288 by August 2025, an approximate 113 per cent increase accounting for more than 7,000 persons.

Putting the data together, the finance minister noted that the NIS had more than 75,000 more active contributors in August of 2025 than the scheme had in August of 2020.

Dr Singh reaffirmed that what these numbers reflect is consistent with that which has been determined by other administrative data that shows there are nearly 70,000 more people who are working today than were working in August 2020.

This, he said, reflects “The growth and expansion of the economy, the expansion in private investment, the opening of new companies, new businesses and new enterprises and the creation of more jobs.”