Latest update April 11th, 2025 9:20 AM
Guyana in talks with Islamic Bank for more loans
Kaieteur News – Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh has confirmed that Guyana is currently in talks with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) in order to contract additional loans.
Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh at the IsDB Annual Meeting in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
He made this disclosure during the recently held Annual Meeting by the Bank for this year held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
Dr. Singh in an address to the meeting, delegates noted that Guyana is already at an advanced stage of developing new projects for its portfolio with the Bank, including one in transport infrastructure that is due to go to the executive board in September.
With this in mind, Dr. Singh reminded the bank officials that, “as we confront the myriad challenges still before us, the Islamic Development Bank will continue, to be a highly valued development partner.”
During his address, the Minister with responsibility for Finance had espoused that particular areas of focus for his administration include investing in: adequate, reliable, affordable, and cleaner electricity which is essential for a competitive manufacturing sector; expanded and upgraded transport infrastructure, to increase the economic space in which they operate.
Speaking to those in attendance, Dr. Singh said, “We meet at a time when the global economy is reeling from multiple intertwined shocks.” To this end he iterated that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are still being felt in many of our countries, with productive activity still muted in many places and the global supply chain still in deep dislocation.
“On top of this, war in Ukraine has further disrupted production and trade in key commodities, resulting in additional inflationary pressure.” He posited that as a result, global economic growth is now projected to slow from 6.1 percent in 2021 to 3.6 percent in 2022 and 2023 and, beyond 2023 is projected to decline further to 3.3 percent into the medium term.
Additionally, the minister said inflation for 2022 is now projected at 5.7 percent in advanced economies and 8.7 percent in emerging market and developing economies, and many countries are experiencing their highest levels of inflation in decades. Needless to say, the impact is being felt most severely by the vulnerable, both within and across countries, the official stated.
Furthermore, Dr. Singh told those in attendance that alongside the immediate crises before us, “we continue to face a global climate crisis of no less urgency, with gaping gaps between stated ambition and policy action, a matter that will be the focus of attention right here in Sharm El Sheikh in just a few months at COP27.”
These combined realities, he said, make the work of the Bank even more important to countries in the months and years ahead. He said they also make the theme of this year’s meeting very apt – Beyond Recovery: Resilience and Sustainability” as it captures the essence of the mission that lies ahead.
It is with this in mind, Dr. Singh reiterated measures employed by his administration domestically in order to meet the challenges and to limit the effects of COVID-19 on people’s lives and on the economy, as well as to contain the pass through of imported price pressure on the most vulnerable. He said this is being done while at the same time improving competitiveness, and increasing resilience in the country’s productive sectors.
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