The Guyanese economy registered mostly positive output performance during the first quarter of 2022.
According to Central Bank’s latest statistical bulletin, there continues to be favourable performance in the oil and gas sector as the nation now has two oil ships, the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity, in operation.
With respect to the non-oil economy, the economic regulator said it experienced moderate growth on account of economic activities regaining momentum from the full reopening of the economy coupled with fiscal measures to alleviate the rising costs of production and services.
In the agriculture sector, it was noted that forestry activities grew significantly by 79.3 percent on account of increased output of total logs by 90.1 percent. This favourable increase is partly due to small-scale loggers returning to their operations along with removal of all COVID- 19 restrictions.
Conversely, Central Bank said there were decreases in the production of rice and sugar by 53.1 and 47.7 percent, respectively. It said the substantial decline in the production of rice can be attributed to the effects of the flooding in 2021, which prevented farmers from sowing all available lands for the first crop of 2022 along with higher input costs.
As for sugar production, Bank of Guyana said this decreased as a result of the halt on grinding at the Uitvlugt sugar estate, caused by mechanical issues, which impacted production, as this estate was responsible for 25 percent of output.
percent.
In the mining and quarrying sector, the financial institution said it experienced growth in most industries, except for a marginal decline in oil. Central Bank statistics revealed that total bauxite production increased by 6.4 percent, while gold declarations were higher by 3.0 percent. The latter resulted from a 30.5 percent increase in declarations by the large scale miner, Guyana Gold Fields.
As for output of sand and crushed stoned, this increased due to enhanced construction activities across the country.
With respect to crude oil production, this relatively new industry registered a marginal decrease of 1.0 percent, despite the start-up of production from the Liza Unity in February, as the Liza Destiny paused production due to planned maintenance during March. Crude oil production totalled 10.9 million barrels at end-March 2022 compared to 11 million barrels for the corresponding period one year earlier.
In the manufacturing sector, statistics shows that it registered increased production of tablets by 75.1 percent, detergent by 65.8 percent, total aerated drinks by 13.7 percent and rum by a marginal 1.0 percent. In contrast, there were declines in production of oxygen by 32.3 percent, total liquids by 17.1 percent, putty by 13.0 percent, paint by 7.5 percent and alcoholic beverages by 1.3 percent.
Overall, the financial institution noted that the country remains on track for its 49.6 percent growth rate for 2022.
