Policies being devised to ward off dreaded Dutch disease - Jordan

Policies being devised to ward off dreaded Dutch disease – Jordan

Mar 05, 2019 News

Finance Minister, Winston Jordan has assured that the government is taking the necessary precautions to protect Guyana from the Dutch disease and the Resource Curse.
Speaking at the Sunday opening of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Convention, Minister Jordan said, “We are wary of the dreaded Dutch disease and the resource curse, and are actively devising policies to ensure that our other productive sectors remain competitive, even as our economy embarks on structural change.”
The economist added, “To further safeguard our impending wealth, my government has successfully developed and passed in Parliament, a Bill that sets out the regime for Guyana’s version of a sovereign wealth fund, which in our instance, is called the Natural Resource Fund (NRF).”
Jordan noted that the Fund is modeled after the best practices and principles of sovereign wealth funds. He said the Fund’s objectives include stabilization of public spending, minimizing a loss in economic competitiveness, fairly transferring natural resource wealth across generations, and financing national development priorities.
The Finance Minister said that while the Fund will initially receive petroleum revenues only, there are provisions to allow for excess mining and forestry revenues to be deposited in the Fund.
He said, “Though much of the current buzz surrounding Guyana pertains to the petroleum industry, I’d like to reassure you that wealth generated from the oil discoveries will be used to create an enabling environment for the growth of our other sectors. Withdrawals from the NRF will finance national development priorities as outlined in my Government’s new vision for Guyana–the Green State Development Strategy: Vision 2030.”
The Finance Minister continued, “This strategy prioritises investments in Guyana’s human capital, infrastructure and energy as we work towards diversifying our economic base and creating an enabling environment for investors. This means that you can be assured of an expanded pool of skilled labour which will be available to the sector and the cost of logistics will be significantly reduced as a result of investments of critical infrastructure.”
The economist added, “Upgraded roads, bridges and ports stretching across the breadth of Guyana, will increase the efficiency with which our resources can be extracted, and a clean and reliable energy source will increase the attractiveness of processing our mineral resources prior to exporting.”
The Finance Minister noted that the Government is also developing other oil and gas policies to safeguard local content, protect the environment and incubate human resources.
“We are committed to the development of all of our resources for the realization of the good life for all Guyanese,” expressed Minister Jordan.

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