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Dr Jagdeo said the government was considering replacing foreign consultants with local experts
– Minister Bharat reiterated the Government’s focus on transparency, accountability and proper regulation of the sector
Guyana has become a country known for its management of its oil resources, and while the government can boast of many positive aspects, there is also talk of building greater capacity using local skills.
“At the moment, we rely on a lot of external consultants for advice. Over time, we will have to replace them with Guyanese consultants. There is always room for improvement in management, there is always room for improvement,” Guyana’s Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo told reporters at a press conference last Thursday.
Dr. Jagdeo further noted that the country has implemented several policies to ensure that Guyanese benefit from the country’s resources and in fact many now look to Guyana as a role model.
“When I see comments coming from elsewhere, especially presentations from emerging producing countries, they often use Guyana as an example of the change that has taken place in a relatively short period of time.”
He cited the country’s Natural Resources Fund, noting that government has put in place a transparent and accountable programme to ensure Guyanese understand how the nation’s resources are being used.
“We have a transparent formula to transfer money from the National Reserve Fund to the budget. We have the strictest disclosure protocol in the world for the receipt of oil funds, and failure by the finance minister to disclose is punishable by 10 years in prison. We have strengthened the management of the fund by having a board of directors to replace the finance minister or to provide oversight (sole oversight).”
In addition to this, the government has also updated several pieces of legislation to ensure that Guyanese benefit from the industry.
He noted that we have always focused on local content and ensuring that the country has the most modern legislation to provide officials with the tools to manage the contemporary oil and gas industry.
Note: Hidden
Meanwhile, the country’s natural resources minister, Vickram Bharrat, recently stressed that the government has taken a “proactive” approach to sharing information publicly.
Barratt told reporters at a recent press conference that Guyana is one of the very few oil-producing countries that consistently publishes and shares information on the management of its oil and gas industry.
He pointed out astutely that one of the country’s key policymakers, Vice President Dr. Jagdeo, is interviewed weekly by the local media.
“Our country’s leading policy maker, Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo spoke on the sector and provided an opportunity for the media and anyone else to ask questions on the sector. We also shared information about the sector.”
Bharat said transparency and accountability were evident in the sector and to further support his remarks he cited the country’s Natural Resources Fund.
“Anyone anywhere in the world will know how much money is coming out of the Natural Resources Fund, and there are only two ways money can come out of the Natural Resources Fund.”
He noted that the government can use the fund only with the approval of Congress.
“There are only two ways that money can come out of the Natural Resources Fund. One is through the national budget, which is debated in the National Assembly, where the opposition has a full week to question us on spending, and it has to be approved by the National Assembly. The second way is if there is a national disaster… and we need emergency funds to help our people… then we will draw money from the Natural Resources Fund, but again, that has to be approved by the National Assembly,” the minister explained.
In July, the government received parliamentary approval to withdraw $1,586,150,331 (equivalent to 329,885,563,088 Belize dollars) from the NRF in 2024.
“Pursuant to this approval, the Government of Guyana has made the third transfer for 2024 from the NRF to the Consolidated Fund on July 22, 2024, amounting to US$300 million (equivalent to G$62.394 billion),” the Guyana Ministry of Finance said in a press statement.
The transfer brings the cumulative withdrawals so far in 2024 to $850 million (equivalent to BD176.782 billion), part of a total of $1.586 billion (equivalent to BD329.9 billion) approved for this year.
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