– to rise to US$2.8b at end of year
The government’s mid-year review says that Guyana’s external debt was US$1.9b at the end of June this year.
The review however said Guyana’s public debt remains sustainable, “being subject to moderate risk of debt distress”. This position, it said, is underpinned by Government’s continued focus on contracting development financing within prudent cost and risk parameters. At the end of the first half of this year, Guyana’s stock of Total Public and Publicly Guaranteed (PPG) debt amounted to US$5,063.3 million, reflecting positive net flows from both external and domestic creditors.
External PPG debt totalled US$1,924.2 million at the end of June.
“This is attributed to positive net flows from multilateral creditors such as the World Bank’s International Development Association and the Caribbean Development Bank, as well as bilateral creditors, such as China, Canada, India and UK Export Finance, for projects associated with social and infrastructural initiatives”, the review said.
At the end of the first half, multilateral creditors accounted for the largest share of external PPG debt with 63.4 percent, bilateral creditors accounted for the second largest share of 35.1 percent, while private creditors accounted for the smallest share of 1.5 percent. The review said that the external PPG debt stock is projected to rise to US$2,832.3 million by end-2024, on account of anticipated positive net flows across both the bilateral and multilateral creditor categories.
External disbursements amounted to US$196.8 million in the first half of 2024, 94.6 percent higher than in the first half of the preceding year, mainly due to increased inflows from bilateral creditors. Inflows from this creditor category totalled US$157.9 million in the first half of 2024, 127.5 percent higher than in the first half of 2023. This increase was mainly the result of ongoing implementation of several development projects, including: a social protection initiative financed by Canada; the East Coast Demerara Road Improvement Project Phase 2 and the Regional Hospitals Project, both financed by China; and several projects financed by the India EXIM Bank.
The stock of domestic PPG debt at the end of June totalled US$3,139 million. This reflects a stock of treasury bills at US$2,226.2 million amid the issuance of new fiscal instruments, the review said.
Total PPG debt service payments amounted to US$85.2 million in the first half of 2024, 7.7 percent lower than in the first half of 2023. This decline was mainly due to a 33.3 percent contraction in domestic PPG debt service payments, from US$42.2 million in the first half of 2023, to US$28.2 million in the first half of 2024.
The contraction in domestic PPG debt service payments was due to the completion, in the previous year, of repayments under a government guaranteed bond issued by the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) in 2018 but transferred to the books of Central Government in 2020. Conversely, the review said that external PPG debt service payments grew by 13.8 percent, from US$50.1 million in the first half of 2023, to US$57 million in the first half of 2024, the product of higher payments to both bilateral and multilateral creditors, by 11.6 percent and 15.4 percent, respectively.
