IMF urges timely publication of audit reports

Mar 11, 2025 News

—but lauds Guyana’s efforts to strengthen anti-corruption mechanism

Kaieteur News- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lauded Guyana’s efforts to strengthen anti-corruption mechanisms, but urged timelier publication of audit reports of public companies and local authorities.

IMF urges timely publication of audit reports

In its Staff Concluding Statement of the 2025 Article IV Mission for Guyana IMF noted that internal audit capabilities are expanding but stressed that more effort is needed to ensure a timely publication of audit reports of some public companies and local authorities. According to the IMF, in line with the recommendations of the MESICIC 2024 report, work is ongoing in multiple areas to strengthen anti-corruption efforts. Following the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) report published in 2024, the IMF noted too that the authorities are working to implement the beneficial ownership transparency recommendation in line with the EITI standards.

“There is also scope to strengthen regulatory compliance in the non-oil mining sector, particularly with large-scale operators. Staff supports the authorities’ strong efforts to strengthen the rule of law through hiring more magistrates and judges,” the document added.

In the same statement, the IMF praised the Government of Guyana for the rate at which it is spending the oil money calling it an enhanced management of the fund. Early last year, the Government of Guyana moved to the National Assembly to amend the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Act, to allow for more withdrawals. The decision was met with firm objections, which were widely ventilated in the media.

In spite of public criticisms, the IMF in its Staff Concluding Statement of the 2025 Article IV Mission for Guyana said that given the country’s development and investment needs the fiscal policy stance is appropriate at this stage, and the fiscal deficits should gradually close over the medium term.

The organisation is of the view that the increase of the withdrawal ceiling early last year provided the room for substantial expansion of capital expenditure which had reached over 12½ percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for that year. The IMF is recommending a gradual closing of the overall fiscal deficit by 2031, which should then be followed by a narrowing of the “non-oil primary deficit over the (conservatively) projected lifespan of oil reserves to the levels consistent with ensuring intergenerational equity and preserving fiscal and macroeconomic sustainability.”

Furthermore, “Implementing a comprehensive medium-term fiscal framework with an explicit anchor and an operational target, further modernizing public financial management systems, and conducting regular expenditure reviews to continually assess spending efficiency and effectiveness in reaching the SDGs will also help further strengthen fiscal discipline and transparency,” the organisation said.

The IMF views the way the NRF is currently being handled as an advancement in enhanced governance and modernization to the operations of the public sector. This conclusion was drawn from the Public Accountability and Oversight Committee Annual Report and the NFR Report which were presented for the fiscal year 2023 to the National Assembly, as well as the “regular notifications of receipts of petroleum revenues, as mandated by law, (which) are published in the Official Gazette and presented to the National Assembly, and the Bank of Guyana publish monthly and quarterly reports of the NRF’s financial performance.” Hence, the IMF believes that Guyanese authorities have been making good progress in giving their revenue administration capacity a more modern approach.

(IMF urges timely publication of audit reports)

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anti-corruption, Guyana’s, International Monetary Fund, Natural Resource Fund

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