Key investments by the current administration are bringing in massive gains as the country’s export earnings soared by an outstanding 38.8 percent to US$6B at the end of June 2023. This was specifically noted in the government’s 2023 mid-year report, produced by the Ministry of Finance.
The report noted that total import payments more than doubled over the review period largely driven by increases in the importation of capital goods.
With respect to growth in export volumes, the ministry’s report said this resulted in higher earnings from crude oil, which amounted to US$5.4B in the first half of the year. Though this represents a US$1.8B increase over the corresponding period last year, government’s report said further gains were prevented on account of a moderation in global oil prices.
In terms of non-oil export earnings, government said this decreased year-on-year, largely on account of lower earnings from gold, the ‘others’ category, and bauxite. These contracted by US$38 million, US$22.7 million, and US$9.5 million, respectively.
With respect to total import payments, government said this grew substantially over the review period reaching US$3.7B, an increase of 111.8 percent over 2022. Growth in total import payments is largely attributed to the importation of the Prosperity Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel which is Guyana’s third oil ship to come on stream in the Stabroek Block by year end.
Still on the current account, government said net payments for services amounted to US$2,799.3 million over the review period, representing an increase of US$448.1 million. Within this, payments for non-factor services grew by US$362 million to US$2,099.2 million, mainly as a result of increased payments for construction services, which itself expanded by US$311.2 million at the end of June 2023.
