Senior Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh announced on Thursday evening that government made its first drawdown this year from the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) following the passage of budget 2023 in the National Assembly last week. Dr. Singh said US$200million equivalent to G$41.6 billion has been transferred from the NRF to the Consolidated Fund to finance national development priorities.
It would be recalled that in keeping with the NRF Act 2021, US$607.6 million was withdrawn in 2022 to finance national development priorities and, as part of the Budget 2023process, Parliamentary approval was granted for a total of US$1.002 billion to be transferred during fiscal year 2023.
The NRF Act 2021,which came into operation on January 1 2022, represents a significant improvement in transparency and accountability and the overall management of Guyana’s natural resource wealth for present and future generations.
