Guyana’s 2020 growth rate toppled from 86% to 26% – says IMF

Oct 19, 2020 News

…Despite massive oil finds

Kaieteur News – The unprecedented economic blows that have been unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic, has forced the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to further downgrade its growth forecasts for 2020.
According to the financial institution, Guyana’s 2020 Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to see a 26.2 percent growth, instead of the previously announced 53 percent.
This amounts to the second downward growth revision for 2020 of Guyana’s economy by the IMF. It had projected in September last year that Guyana’s economy would grow 86 percent.
In spite of its revision for 2020, the IMF said that Guyana’s growth is expected to rapidly increase. In its October World Economic Outlook, the IMF is projecting the Guyana will experience 8.1 percent Real GDP growth in 2021; 30 percent by 2022; and 22.3 in 2023.
This progressive growth forecast is bolstered by the nation’s oil and gas sector. To date, Guyana has over eight billion barrels of oil equivalent resources in the Stabroek Block. The operator for the offshore concession is ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL).
It already has on stream oil production from the Liza Phase One project which is expected to last for 20 years. The Liza Phase Two development project remains on track for its 2022 commissioning while contracts are already being awarded for the Payara project.
Payara, the third phase, is expected to produce 220,000 barrels of oil per day at peak by 2024. It will be utilizing a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) called the Prosperity. The collective rate of production for those three projects could meet a peak of 560,000 barrels per day after Payara comes on stream.