Review of the Guyana Budget for 2023 Michael DaCosta 1 February 6, 2023
Summary of the budget
Guyana’s budget for 2023 is unprecedented in size and scope, fuelled by the country’s growing petroleum related revenues. At G$782 billion, or about US$4 billion, it is 41 percent larger than the 2022 budget. 2
Current revenue is budgeted to increase by 35 percent in 2023 mainly as a result of transfers from the NRF. Revenue other than that related to oil and carbon credits is
expected to rise by 12 percent, broadly in line with the growth of the non-oil economy.
Current expenditure is budgeted to grow by about 10 percent, with the wage bill and
private transfers growing by 20 percent (13 percent in 2022), and 28 percent (15 percent in 2022) respectively. The rise in private transfers reflects continued increases in cash
grants to students, the disabled, and public assistance recipients, as well as in pensions. Capital expenditure, which had more than doubled in 2022, is budgeted to rise by a further 50 percent (or from 9 percent to 12 percent of GDP) in 2023. The budget
contains an ambitious list of new infrastructure projects. These include a gas-to-shore pipeline that would feed into a new electricity generation plant, as well as the
construction of several roads, bridges, schools and hospitals. In sectoral terms, most of the increased capital expenditure is allocated to transport and communication (G$33
billion higher than in 2022), housing ($26 billion), power generation ($24 billion), and construction ($19 billion). Significant increases were also allocated to education ($10 billion), as well as environment and pure water, health, and administration. The outturn for the budget and the indicative medium-term scenario
The outturn of the revenue and expenditure estimates in the budget is that in 2023 the
government will experience a current account surplus that would be more than offset by capital expenditure, resulting in a deficit of G$168 billion, financed by borrowing (Table
1). Consequently, the public debt will expand from about US$4 billion in 2022 to almost
US$4.7 billion, or from 28 percent to 29 percent of GDP. 1 2
An earlier draft of this paper benefited from comments from Keith Dublin and Sherwyn Williams. This figure includes principal and interest payments on the public debt.