President, David Granger on January 23, last, signed into law, the Natural Resource Fund Bill which was passed by the National Assembly in early January last.
Providing this update to the media yesterday was Minister of State, Joseph Harmon.
The Minister noted that the Natural Resource Fund Act provides the legal framework for the establishment of the Fund which will manage the natural resource wealth of Guyana for the present and future benefit of the people and for the sustainable development of the country.
The Minister noted as well, that the legal framework for the fund includes provisions for: public oversight; management; the nature and sources of deposits; withdrawals, including parliamentary approval and determination of amounts to be withdrawn; eligible investments for its resources; accounting, reporting and auditing of its records; and codes of conduct for members of its oversight and investment committees.
The Minister of State said that included in the Act is a first schedule that outlines the procedures and considerations that shall obtain in calculating the fiscally sustainable amount of the Fund.
Also included, he said, is a second schedule which sets out the ceilings and floors for investment of the natural resource funds for the purpose of long-term savings. He said that some of the eligible asset classes for long-term investments are: treasury bills; bank deposits; sovereign bonds; corporate bonds; equities; derivatives and commodities.
