Budget set at $1.558 trillion

Jan 27, 2026 News

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…19.3% growth in GDP recorded in 2025
…16.2% growth expected this year

By Davina Bagot

(Kaieteur News) – Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh on Monday unveiled this year’s Budget, set at a staggering $1.558 trillion, emerging yet again as the largest to ever be presented.

The fiscal plan themed ‘Putting People First’ marks the first budget to be presented by the administration since its re-election to office in 2025.

During his almost seven-hour long presentation at the Arthur Chung Conference Center at Lililendaal, Greater Georgetown, Dr. Singh explained that “Budget 2026 was crafted to give effect to His Excellency’s vision for a modern, prosperous Guyana, that provides opportunities for every single Guyanese person.” It was financed with no new taxes and is 12.7% larger compared with the 2025 budget.

Notably, government intends to transfer $495B or approximately US$2.4B in oil revenue from the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) to finance the budget. This year’s fiscal plan will also be supported by some $49.7B in carbon credit inflows.

The extended budget presentation in the House was often met with fierce criticism from the Opposition benches, particularly those occupied by the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Members of Parliament (MPs), while the newcomer majority opposition party, We Invest In Nationhood (WIN) just quietly observed the process. In fact, the party’s leader, Azruddin Mohamed even made a personal social media post criticizing some MPs for creating “chaos” and “drama” instead of focusing on the national agenda.

Despite the interruptions, Dr. Singh reported another year of double-digit growth in the economy. He said, “Mr. Speaker, despite the challenging global context, our government’s robust policy framework has enabled us in Guyana to demonstrate consistently that economic growth can be strong and steady in the most testing of circumstances. Today, I have the pleasure of reporting that the Guyanese economy is estimated to have expanded by 19.3% overall in 2025, with expansion of 14.3% observed in our non-oil real GDP.”

He was keen to note that the overall real economic growth continues to be supported by strong expansion in the petroleum sector, as well as sustained growth across the non-oil sectors. According to him, growth in the non-oil economy for 2025 was driven largely by the agriculture, mining, construction, and services sectors.

This year, government expects continuous growth in the economy, with overall growth projected at 16.2% and non-oil growth at 10.8%.

Sugar

In 2025, the sugar subsector expanded by an average 26.5%, recording 59,600 tonnes of production. The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCO) said heavy rainfall hampered its harvesting and field operations. This was compounded by labour shortages, low employee turnout, and equipment challenges at some estates.

Rice, crops, livestock

In spite of lower global prices, the rice subsector recorded another year of growth, expanding by 15.7% in 2025.

The Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) reported production of 810,299 tonnes.

Similarly, the crops subsector grew by an estimated 11.1% in 2025, with expansions observed across all major crop categories. According to the finance minister, “Significant growth was recorded in the production of root crops, vegetables, spices, and fruits. Output of these commodities expanded by 18 percent, 5.8 percent, 11.2 percent, and 5.1 percent, respectively. Of note, the production of beans and cereals also expanded in 2025, with soyabean and corn output growing by 72.1 percent and 10.3 percent, respectively.”

Also experiencing expansion in 2025 was the livestock industry by 12.5%. Government said that the notable growth observed in poultry production was supported by an increase in the importation of eggs following reduced prevalence of bird flu, as well as a significant reduction in the incidence of the viral disease affecting the industry.

Fish and shrimp

While the fishing industry recorded a 6.6% expansion, shrimp production suffered a worrying 42% decline in 2025. The finance minister said that the growth in the fishing industry was due to the expansion in marine fish production and aquaculture.

He said, “Marine fish production expanded by 16.7% and aquaculture production by 52%. In contrast, marine shrimp production declined by 42 percent, with contractions in prawns, and industrial and artisanal shrimp output. The marine shrimp industry continues to be affected by lower catch rates and a decline in the active industrial fleet.”

Forestry, gold, bauxite, diamond  

A small 2.7% expansion in the forestry sector was recorded in 2025. Timber production totaled 495,226 cubic metres in 2025.

Meanwhile, the gold mining industry recorded 11.6% growth in 2025, with total gold declarations of 484,321 ounces.

Dr. Singh highlighted, “While declarations from licensed dealerships declined by 21.5 percent to 121,883 ounces, declarations from the lone large operator grew by 15.5 percent to 167,005 ounces, and declarations to the Guyana Gold Board (GGB) grew by 45.6 percent to 195,432 ounces.”

He pointed out that the improved declarations were as a result of stronger enforcement in the sector, requiring greater compliance.

Additionally, bauxite mining also recorded 53.4% growth in 2025, with production reaching 3.9 million tonnes.

On the other hand, diamond declarations suffered a major 24.2% decrease in 2025.

Sand, stone, manganese

Recording massive growth in 2025 was sand and stone declarations which are estimated to have grown by 20% and 68.3%.

Manganese production is also estimated to have expanded by 13.5% to 331,402 tonnes.

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• Ashni Singh, budget, Putting People First, trillion

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