Guyana has accumulated enough revenues in its Natural Resource Fund (NRF) to pay off the country’s entire external debt, according to Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh.
During his appearance on the Starting Point Podcast, Dr Singh said, “I’m pleased to tell you that we have today, as we speak, we have saved in the sovereign wealth fund, resources that are sufficient today to pay off our country’s entire external debt,” he stated.
The NRF is Guyana’s sovereign wealth fund, established to collect and manage revenues earned from oil production. Guyana’s oil revenues are deposited into an account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the fund is overseen by a Board of Directors appointed by the president.
At the end of 2024, Guyana’s total Public and Publicly Guaranteed (PPG) debt stood at US$5.993 billion. Of that amount, external PPG debt totalled US$2.2 billion, while domestic PPG debt amounted to US$3.7 billion.
“If we were to choose to do so, we have enough savings in the Natural Resource Fund to pay off Guyana’s external debt and still have some change left back,” Dr Singh explained.
However, he cautioned that having the capacity to clear the external debt does not mean the government intends to do so, stressing that the perception that borrowing is inherently bad is misguided.
“No country, no business, indeed no home has been built without borrowing being incurred. I don’t believe even at the household level that anybody says, ‘I will wait to build my house until I’ve accumulated enough cash to pay for my house in cash.’
“Nobody says that. You accumulate enough to make a down payment,” the finance minister stated. Dr Singh explained that households and businesses typically accumulate some savings before approaching banks, demonstrating an income stream and the ability to service loans borrowed at sustainable rates.
“Every country has done and does the same, and what matters is not whether you borrow or not, but that you borrow prudently and cautiously within your capacity to service your debt going forward,” Dr Singh said, adding that this is exactly what the People’s Progressive Party government has demonstrated and will continue to do.
Further, he also reminded that the NRF was established by the PPP government with stronger transparency provisions than those contained in the draft NRF legislation prepared by the APNU+AFC administration. These include requirements that all oil revenues be paid into the fund and that all receipts be publicly disclosed through publication in the Official Gazette and by tabling those publications in the National Assembly.
“We’ve been depositing all of our oil revenue into it, and we have been transferring out of the sovereign wealth fund in keeping with the legislated ceiling,” Dr Singh said.