Government continues to manage Guyana’s debt in a prudent and sustainable manner while also ramping up efforts to improve and build the country’s resilience to climate change.

As efforts are made to proceed further in this direction, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr. Ashni Singh signed a Climate Resilient Debt Clause (CRDC) Agreement with the World Bank at the Ministry of Finance along with an agreement for the activation of the World Bank’s Rapid Response Option (RRO).

The CRDC is a debt management tool that allows for the deferral of debt payments for up to 2 years should Guyana experience a natural disaster such as flooding.

Guyana is the first country in the Region to sign the updated CRDC and this has now taken place following intense lobbying by Government for the bank to include appropriate climate change phenomena such as floods, droughts and public health emergencies unique to this country’s circumstances.

Should the country experience such a disaster and once the CRDC is activated, it will also reduce the burden on government resources to finance disaster response and recovery efforts.

The second agreement signed with the World Bank is the Rapid Response Option (RRO) which, if activated, would see existing resources quickly repurposed for emergency response should there be a crisis such as a natural disaster, health shock or conflict event.

Guyana, in such a situation, can repurpose up to ten percent of its undisbursed balances in its Investment Project Financing and Program for Results (PforR) operations per year for quick disbursement.

During the signing, Dr. Singh explained that ‘notwithstanding Guyana’s improved economic circumstances in recent years, we continue to be a country that is extremely vulnerable to climate and other potentially catastrophic events,’ as he recalled that the country has overtime experienced multiple episodes of flooding including in 2005, noting that the floods devastated Guyana’s economy and posed damages in excess of 60 percent of GDP.

The Senior Minister added, “the bank has been partnering with us on building our resilience to natural disasters and to catastrophic events and not least ofcourse is the support for the Flood Risk Management Project, amongst others. But increasingly too, the international community as well has recognised the importance of instruments that can respond more effectively to exogenous shocks, extreme climatic events or other natural disasters and catastrophes’.

Signing on behalf of the Bank was World Bank Group Representative to Guyana Ms. Diletta Doretti who underscored the significance of the signing as she lauded the finance minister for his intense lobbying efforts and for pointing out when he perused the agreement months before, that the CRDC needed to include natural disasters relevant to Guyana as it only catered for hurricanes and earthquakes.

It can be recalled that in July this year as well Dr. Singh presented to Parliament two amendatory loan agreements, including one which amended the Export Finance Facility Agreement dated June 14, 2022, between the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, represented by the Ministry of Finance as the Borrower and UK Export Finance as the Lender, and the UniCredit Bank Austria AG as the Agent and Arranger, for an amount of EUR 161,016,949.15 for the Guyana Paediatric and Maternal Hospital Project. This Amendatory Agreement facilitated the inclusion of a Climate Resilient Debt Clause into the original Agreement with Guyana being one of the first countries to adopt the CRDCs directly as part of its loan agreement with the UK Export Finance.

This Government’s effective debt management practices over the past years have contributed to a large decline in the country’s debt ratios over a sustained period. It can be recalled that Guyana’s debt-to-GDP ratio declined from over 600 percent in 1991 to 27 percent in 2023 while in 1992, about 90 cents of every dollar of revenue earned was used to make debt service payments. Today, this has been significantly reduced to about 6 cents of every dollar.

Noteworthy for the country, has been the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) 2023 Article IV Report for Guyana which placed the country in a positive light, indicating that the risk of (overall and external) debt distress remains moderate, with debt dynamics improving significantly with incoming oil revenues. The IMF also commended the Government’s commitment to maintain debt sustainability and a balanced growth path through moderating fiscal impulses over the medium-term, while continuing to address development needs.

Efforts are in full swing to connect the second power ship, docked at the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) terminal at Ruimveldt, Georgetown, to the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS).

This power ship will add a crucial 60 MW of power to the national grid. Currently, a 3.9 km double-circuit 69 kV transmission line is being constructed from Ruimveldt to the New Georgetown Substation to facilitate the transfer of power from the ship.

On Wednesday, Kesh Nandlall, Head of the Executive Management Committee at Guyana Power and Light (GPL), provided an update on the project’s progress.

“We have already constructed most of the lines and foundations. We are putting up most of the structures, and we are making preparations to string the conductors,” Nandlall explained.

The installation process includes modern steel structures and a new substation in South Ruimveldt Gardens, ensuring that the infrastructure can handle the additional power load.

“Our target is to interconnect the power ship to the grid before Christmas,” Nandlall assured.

Kalpataru Projects International, one of India’s largest engineering and construction companies, has been contracted to manage the power ship. Project Manager Gaurav stated that the team is working tirelessly to ensure the connection is completed on schedule.

“We are around 70 per cent through with the line connection, and we are working day and night to get it done. We will deliver power from the power ship to the substation before Christmas,” Gaurav confirmed. He also mentioned that their team would train GPL engineers to operate the power ship once it’s integrated into the grid.

Meanwhile, Nandlall highlighted that construction is ongoing at several sites, including the installation of a conducting structure at the GuySuCo terminal and the utilisation of Banks DIH reserve land. A new wharf at the sugar terminal is also under construction and is expected to be completed within a few days.

Once all construction is finished, thorough testing will be conducted to ensure seamless integration into the national grid.

Initially, the power ship will contribute 60 megawatts of generating capacity to the grid. In its second phase, an additional 15 megawatts will be added, bringing the total to 75 megawatts.

“It is expected to provide more than sufficient reserve capacity into the DBIS, enhancing our generating capacity,” Nandlall added.

Youth in Region 10 (Upper Demerara- Berbice) can now use a new ‘Youth Vibes’ centre established by the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

This centre, established at Block 22 in Region 10, is meant for young persons, especially those who are at-risk.

“This space is the first that the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security would have opened in the country,” subject minister Dr. Vindhya Persaud said this week.

The centre has sport equipment, a television, computer and some books for young people in the region to use. Additionally, Minister Persaud said peer counselling and mentorship will be offered at the space.

And similar centres will be opened across the country.

“We want you to be the trailblazer, we want you to be the pioneer so that whatever activities happen here, this could be a modern centre for other centres to follow,” she said.