Introduction
Today’s column addresses Guidepost 2, in Part 2 of Guyana’s Petroleum Road Map. To recall, Part 2 speaks to Government’s spending of expected petroleum revenues at full ramp up. And, Guidepost 2 specifically addresses spending on Government of Guyana (GoG) determined priorities. Recall also, GoG spending was assessed last week at between US$13 billion and US$22 billion annually, at full ramp up — a considerable sum!
The choice to begin with spending on GoG priorities is not random. This topic is first because of two considerations, both of which were highlighted in my column “summing up” Part 1 of the Road Map, which focused on “getting petroleum revenues” (June 23, 2019). In that summing up column, I had argued the Road Map does not constitute a detailed national spending plan. Nor is it a simple aggregation of a “to do list” for GoG spending! Instead, it aims to provide “strategic focus to a line of march aimed at specific strategic goals”. (ibid.)