By Kiana Wilburg
For this author, 2024 was one of the fastest years on record. It seems like it was only yesterday the local and international news reports were abuzz with praise regarding Guyana’s 49.7 percent mid-year growth. As we all take time to indulge in the usual reflections of personal and professional growth, most would agree that at the national level, we can all be proud of quite a few achievements. The caveat however is that against such a backdrop, the benchmark for improving the standard of living in 2025 is at an all time high.
Let’s deal with the former point, the things the government got right in its management of the economy. An article published by the Guyana Chronicle last year shows that from August 2020 to mid-year of 2024, the government via various interventions in its budgets, returned over $200B into the pockets of Guyanese. In other words, the government absorbed the costs for certain products and services so that the citizens would have more funds to spend elsewhere.
In the 2020 budget for example, the government reversed Value Added Tax (VAT) on electricity, water, building and construction materials, cellphones, and private education. It also reversed land lease fees across all sectors. These and other measures resulted in $40 billion in savings for the populace. A full list of the measures for each budget can be viewed via this link: https://guyanachronicle.com/2024/06/30/ppp-c-government-increased-disposable-income-for-guyanese-by-almost-200b/.
Apart from increasing disposable income for citizens, the government has been on a mission to improve healthcare services for citizens. In fact, the administration pursued an aggressive transformation programme worth $3.3 billion. That funding helps pave the way for the construction of 12 modern hospitals and the delivery of new cardiac services which benefited over 1700 persons.
The government’s attention to the healthcare system has also paved the way for citizens to benefit from an annual $600,000 cash grant to assist with dialysis treatment. Key investments have also been made in improving eye care, cancer screening, and hip replacement surgery, all of which have helped over 150,000 Guyanese.
Considerable investments also continue to flow into agriculture, the backbone of Guyana’s diversification programme which is intended to keep the dreaded resource curse at bay. At his year-end press conference on December 31, 2024, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali noted that the agriculture sector has benefitted from over $11.7 billion in critical investments. He noted that a portion of this funding has been used to assist stakeholders such as farmers with flood relief and fertilizer grants. Overall, 210,000 persons benefited from such targeted assistance.
In the education sector, thousands of Guyanese have welcomed the removal of tuition fees for studies at the University of Guyana, starting January 2025. This policy decision is expected to benefit over 11,000 students, as the government absorbs $8 billion in fees. This move also marked an important step in helping to address the increased need for a skilled workforce across several traditional and new industries. Readers would recall that in my previous column, I highlighted that the country will need over 52,000 workers in five years to support its explosive growth. Even now, there is a massive labour gap which the government is working to address in the healthcare sector and other industries.
There was also the announcement made last year that every Guyanese, 18-years and older, will be able to benefit from a $100,000 cash grant. That distribution process has started and is expected to inject over $60 billion into the economy.
At his December 2024 press conference as well, the Head of State also proudly declared that there is no other country, on a per capita basis, that is leveraging its oil wealth to give back to its people.
As we enter 2025, the development of oil resources in Guyana’s Stabroek Block and the extent to which citizens benefit from their patrimony, will continue to dominate headlines. One major benefit that will certainly top the list and remain in the spotlight is the use of gas as an alternative power source, finally bringing an end to “blackouts.”
Readers would recall that this was one of the government’s 2020 manifesto promises—to slash electricity costs by 50 percent via the gas-to-energy project. All Guyanese, the entire Latin American and Caribbean region, and many of our bilateral partners will be watching Guyana’s handling of the largest capital project in its history.
Not only has the government promised to bring this project on stream, it has promised to do so in time for the next elections, tentatively set for November 2025.
Even President Ali said yesterday at his press conference that “some time in 2025” light bills will be cut in half. Does this mean that the government absorb the costs in 2025 until the gas project completes its commissioning period and overcome any start up quirks?
As time draws nearer, the foregoing question will be aligned with the answer. Until then, one thing major factor is certain—with a fourth oil project commencing in 2025, the government surely has a strong financial safety net to deliver on its promise, and then some.
