Latest update April 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jun 19, 2017 News
– Agreement to help pave the way for lending to private sector
Over the last two years, the Government has sought to widen the range of multilateral partners from which it can access concessional or near concessional resources, given Guyana’s new status of upper middle income country.
In this respect, Finance Minister Winston Jordan recently revealed that while Guyana has joined the Islamic Development Bank, it is renewing the nation’s relationship with the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID).
In fact, Jordan said that next month, he will journey to the Fund’s Headquarters to sign an Investment Protection Treaty, among other activities. The economist said that this would pave the way for lending to the private sector.
The Finance Minister said, “We are also having preliminary discussions with the New Development Bank, also known as BRICS Bank, with a view of accession, whenever that Bank makes the decision to expand membership beyond the five original members.”
The BRICS Bank is an important repository of resources for infrastructural development. With this in mind, Jordan said that the Government is desirous of tapping into those resources to help to narrow infrastructural deficit in Guyana.
Additionally, the Finance Minister asserted that it is critical that adequate attention be paid to the internal debt, as efforts are being made to mobilize domestic resources, both as a means of reducing Guyana’s exposure to external risk factors and to support the Government’s development goals.
He said, “As I speak, a team of experts from another development partner, Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC), is in Guyana, on a mission to aid the government in developing its domestic bond market.”
Jordan said that in the context of debt sustainability, this gives the government more flexibility to respond to external shocks, while reducing Guyana’s reliance on external borrowing.
As part of this exercise, the Finance Minister said that Guyana should also seek to improve its rating on the World Bank Debt Management Performance Assessment (DeMPA) scorecard, in particular on Debt Performance Indicators (DPI) 3 and 6, where Guyana has obtained relatively low scores.
Jordan said that these indicators cover the establishment of a formalized Debt Management Strategy and Coordination with Fiscal Policy.
The Finance Minister also noted that the recently held workshop on National Sustainable Funding Strategy should be seen, therefore, as the first step in crafting a formalized Debt Strategy, so as to secure improved DeMPA scores.
Additionally, he said that the Workshop represented an opportunity to reinforce the technical capacity of government officials in areas related to sustainable funding strategy.
“Out of this exercise, I intend to have a permanent team in government established that will be able to revise the national strategy, periodically. It is my steadfast belief that we should have the capacity to conduct these assessments, annually, so as to maximize ownership of the strategies, track progress made, monitor macroeconomic stability, and foster sustainable growth,” the Finance Minister stated.
He emphasized that this will go a long way towards achieving and sustaining a ‘good life’ for all.
JAGDEO ADDING MORE DANGER TO GUYANA AND THE REGION
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