Guyana borrows 10 times more from IDB than it did in first 6 months of 2020

Oct 28, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – Guyana’s public debt has been steadily increasing in recent years and based on the nation’s latest financial reports for the first half of this year loans from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) increased 10 folds over the corresponding period last year.

The Bank of Guyana

This information is contained in the mid-year financial report on the nation’s accounts for 2021.
According to that document, disbursements from the IDB increased 10-fold, from US$5.2 million in the first half of 2020, to about US$55.5 million for the corresponding period in 2021.
According to the report, about 75.2 percent of the latter amount was allocated to combating the economic and social ramifications of the pandemic.
The report was at the time addressing the nation’s total debt stock and explained that the increase “was largely due to positive net flows (disbursements less principal repayments) from the IDB, driven by disbursements, under two loans agreements geared at combating the COVID-19 pandemic.”
According to the report, at the end of June 2021, multilateral creditors held 64.2 percent of external Public and Publicly Guaranteed (PPG) debt, bilateral creditors 33.4 percent, and private creditors 2.4 percent.
Projecting forward, the report states that the external PPG debt stock is projected to increase by 3.9 percent from its mid-year position, to US$1,407.5 million at the end of 2021, mainly driven by disbursements under several IDB funded projects.
Detailing the borrowing, the report reflected that in the first half of 2021, disbursements from external creditors amounted to US$61.6 million, more than three times that in the first half of 2020.
To this end, it was explained that “this increase reflects higher disbursements from multilateral creditors, moving from US$10.3 million in the first half of 2020, to US$60.8 million in the first half of this year.”
Meanwhile, as key projects approached completion, the report highlighted that bilateral disbursements totalled US$0.8 million in the first half of the year, 89.1 percent lower than US$7.3 million during the same period of 2020.
Meanwhile, as it relates to domestic PPG debt, the report documents that, at the end of the first half of the year, this amounted to US$1,552.6 million, a 22.1 percent increase from the end of 2020 figure of US$1,271.4 million.
It was noted too that in June 2021, government securitised the inherited overdraft at the Bank of Guyana using 85 variable-rate debentures, with tenors ranging from 1 to 20 years, totalling G$200 billion (about US$959.2 million).
“Consequently, the first half of 2021 ended with the Consolidated Fund, as well as public deposits, reflecting a positive balance.”
According to the mid-year report, “these moves were intended to bolster transparency and accountability in public debt management, and to restore the integrity of Guyana’s fiscal accounts.”
As it relates to Guyana’s total stock of public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) debt, that amounted to US$2,907.8 million (US$3B).
According to the report, total public debt accounts for the majority of that debt standing at some US$2,905.4 million, and total publicly guaranteed debt is responsible for the remaining US$2.4 million.
The report outlined that total PPG debt for the period increased by 12.2 percent when compared to the end of 2020 figure of US$2,592.2 million.
It was noted that external PPG debt grew by 2.6 percent, from US$1,320.8 million at the end of 2020, to US$1,355.3 million at end-June 2021.