Latest update March 24th, 2025 7:05 AM
This ministry is not in a crisis
Dear Editor,
The Ministry of Finance notes with absolute disgust the false information contained in ‘Financial Secretary Hector Butts departing Ministry of Finance…fourth senior officer to leave in recent months’ -KN, 2018-10-01.
These are the facts:
1. The Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana indicated by way of letter to the Finance Secretary, Dr. Hector Butts, on September 13, 2018, its decision to not renew his employment contract after it expires on October 26, 2018.
2. The Finance Secretary by way of letter dated September 25, 2018 acknowledged receipt of the letter.
Beyond these two pieces of correspondence, there has been no communication by the Finance Secretary on matters relating to his contract to the Minister of Finance as falsely claimed by your article. Please also note that the appointment of the Finance Secretary is done by the President of Guyana and it is finite.
We wish to also allay any undue fears that your article may have provoked that the Ministry of Finance is in any kind of crisis. We are therefore pleased to advise your readership that a Finance Secretary has been identified and an offer of employment accepted by him. His tenure will begin on November 1, 2018.
The positions of Deputy Finance Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of NPTAB were advertised. The response was tremendous and so, we are on course to have both persons installed by October 15, 2018.
The Ministry of Finance in preparing for its new role and responsibilities in the Oil and Gas sector has to quickly build capacity. In this regard, we are currently aggressively recruiting and training persons; already, three employees from critical departments have secured scholarships to pursue Masters degrees in the UK. Upon their return next year, they will be joined by two other employees who will graduate from Universities in China and Japan. In January 2019, another employee will be sent to the World Bank – the first time that Guyana has qualified for this training. We are optimistic that the Ministry will be better positioned and more equipped to manage Guyana’s economy as we progress towards First Oil.
Public Relations
Ministry of Finance
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