Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh announced yesterday that the Government has made its first drawdown from the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) in accordance with the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Act 2021.
According to a release from the Ministry of Finance, the Minister said that pursuant to Section 16 of the NRF Act 2021, US$200 million equivalent to $41.7 billion has been transferred from the NRF to the Consolidated Fund to finance national development priorities.
The release said that the transfer was made in accordance with the “strengthened legal architecture of the NRF Act 2021” and follows the publication in the Official Gazette of all petroleum revenues paid into the Natural Resource Fund during the period 1 January to 31 March 2022.
The release did not say how the actual transfer from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York where oil proceeds are deposited was achieved i.e. on whose written authority the monies were released, whether the NRF has an actual bank account to which the monies were sent and if so who then authorised the transfer from that account to the Consolidated Fund.
It is also to be noted that the withdrawal has been made without the empaneling of the board of the NRF. Though the members of this board have been identified, they are yet to be sworn in by President Irfaan Ali.
According to the NRF Act, the board is tasked with the overall management of the fund, reviewing and approving the policies of the Fund and exercising general oversight of all aspects of the operations of the Fund.
The release said that the NRF Act 2021 which came into operation on 1st January 2022, represents a significant improvement in transparency and accountability and the overall management of the natural resources wealth of Guyana for present and future generations.
It said it would be recalled, that as part of the Budget 2022 process, Parliamentary approval was granted for a total of US$607.6 million to be transferred during the fiscal year 2022.
