Introduction
Today’s column continues the discussion of the tenth (and final) item on my list of “top-10 development challenges”, which as I have indicated, Guyana will face when spending Government Take from its coming petroleum sector. Last week’s column had offered two concrete proposals on the topic (“integrating PSA revenues and the National Budget”). Both proposals are derived from my close review of varied experiences in several developing countries that have transitioned to the establishment of a new and potentially transformative petroleum based (or other extractive industry) sector.
The first proposal (made last week), is a call for the Authorities to produce an official national policy indicative planning framework to guide the operational process required to bring the coming petroleum sector into being. In the discussion of this proposal and other related issues last week, a Template for preparing such an indicative framework plan was offered. Timelines for such a proposal obviously constitute a key consideration.
And, judging from comments received since that publication, the majority of readers expressed the view that, as far as Guyana is concerned, the window of opportunity for such a study has already been closed! I hold no strong opinion on this judgement, but for the record, I believe the proposal is still worth putting forward.