During the unveiling of his $1.146 trillion budget for 2024, Senior Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh disclosed on Monday that his government intends to utilize a healthy financing mix to meet this historical bill. The Guyanese official said the administration will soon approach the National Assembly with new withdrawal rules for the Natural Resources Fund (NRF). Minister Singh said, “A revision to the NRF withdrawal rule which, once approved, will result in an upward revision to the NRF withdrawal amount to take effect from this fiscal year.”
Minister Singh said the revised withdrawal rule will retain the important feature that, as production and revenue ramp up further, an increasing share of the inflows into the NRF will be saved relative to the share transferred to the Consolidated Fund to finance national development priorities.
For 2024, Minister Singh said Guyana is expected to have 202 lifts from the Stabroek Block’s three operating projects. Each lift from the Liza Destiny, Liza Unity and Prosperity floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels will be worth just about one million barrels of sweet crude. Minister Singh said Guyana is expected to receive 25 million barrels this year.
Consequently, earnings from the Government’s share of profit oil are estimated at US$2.1B in 2024, while royalty payments are projected at US$319.9 million. Overall, Guyana’s oil earnings are projected at US$2.4B.
Additionally, based on 2023 deposits, an estimated US$1.1B or $240.1 billion can be withdrawn from the NRF in 2024 and transferred to the Consolidated Fund to support the country’s development agenda.
