‘Guyana foreign currency burden deepens’

Sep 17, 2026 News

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…as more of the country’s debt is owed in US dollars — Mid-Year Report 

(Kaieteur News) – Guyana’s foreign-currency debt has increased over the past year, with nearly 40 percent of the country’s public debt now owed in foreign currencies, leaving the Government more exposed to changes in exchange rates and the cost of servicing that debt.

According to the Ministry of Finance’s 2026 Mid-Year Report, foreign-currency debt accounted for 38.6 percent of total PPG debt at the end of June 2026, up from 35.1 percent a year earlier. The corresponding share of domestic-currency debt fell to 61.4 percent. The report identifies exchange-rate and interest-rate movements as the two major risks requiring close monitoring within Guyana’s debt portfolio.

Earlier this week, President Irfaan Ali during a news conference said commercial banks purchased US$1.798 billion in foreign currency between January and June 2025, compared with US$2.279 billion during the corresponding period this year, an increase of 26.8%. Bank of Guyana foreign currency injections also increased from US$642 million to US$836 million over the same comparative periods. He said there will be significant foreign currency demand for the rest of the year, including US$385 million in October, US$400 million in November and US$436 million in December. According to the President discussions with commercial banks will take place to better understand the structure of that demand, including spending by large companies and the repatriation of profits by regional and multinational businesses.

Meanwhile, according to the Mid-Year- report, the country’s external PPG debt stood at US$3.306 billion at the end of June, with the US dollar accounting for an increasingly dominant share. The US dollar represented 69.8 percent of Guyana’s external debt at mid-year, compared with 58.5 percent at the same point in 2025. The euro accounted for 10.9 percent, while the Chinese Renminbi Yuan represented 9.8 percent. Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) accounted for another 6.9 percent, with the Canadian dollar, pound sterling, UAE dirham and other currencies making up the remaining 2.5 percent.

The ministry explained that the dominance of the US dollar presents a particular risk because it is also used to acquire other foreign currencies required to meet debt obligations. Consequently, movements in exchange rates could increase the cost of servicing foreign debt and raise the value of outstanding debt when measured in Guyana dollars.

The report noted that a depreciation of the US dollar against other currencies in Guyana’s external debt portfolio could also increase debt-service costs and the total debt stock when measured in US dollars, with further implications when converted into Guyana dollars.

Government said it is therefore closely monitoring global trade trends and movements in major currencies. Despite the increased foreign-currency exposure, the report noted that the Guyana dollar has generally remained stable against the US dollar, helping to contain exchange-rate pressures on debt servicing. Government said too it is also seeking to reduce exchange-rate risk by developing the domestic financial market and introducing new local-currency instruments. The Bank of Guyana is supporting those efforts through monetary and administrative measures aimed at maintaining exchange-rate stability and ensuring that sufficient foreign currency is available to meet external debt payments.

Interest-rate risk

While exchange-rate exposure has increased, the report said Guyana’s vulnerability to interest-rate movements has declined marginally. At the end of June 2026, 77.9 percent of the country’s debt was fixed-rate, while variable-rate debt accounted for 22.1 percent—down 1.4 percentage points from a year earlier. The ministry attributed the decline in variable-rate exposure largely to the issuance of new fixed-rate debt.

However, it cautioned that the headline fixed-rate figure does not tell the entire story. More than half of the fixed-rate debt is subject to refixing within one year or less, largely because of maturing Treasury bills and other instruments linked to T-bills. In fact, 100 percent of the domestic debt portfolio is subject to refixing within one year, compared with 37.6 percent of external debt. The heavy reliance on short-term Treasury bills has resulted in what the Ministry describes as the “T-bill effect”, leaving the domestic debt portfolio more exposed to changes in interest rates.

Guyana’s Average Time to Refixing (ATR)—the period before interest rates on debt are reset—stood at just three years at the end of June. The domestic portfolio had an ATR of less than one year, while the external portfolio had an ATR of seven years. The ministry said the shorter domestic ATR reflects the dominance of Treasury bills in the domestic debt portfolio. Despite this exposure, T-bill interest rates remained relatively stable over the past year, with yields hovering around 1 percent per annum across maturities. Government said it is mitigating external interest-rate risk by favouring fixed-rate borrowing and converting variable-rate instruments to fixed rates where advantageous. On the domestic side, it said it is also prioritising fixed-rate debt while using fiscal policy to minimise upward pressure on borrowing costs.

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• Debt, foreign currency, Irfaan Ali, Mid-Year Report, US dollars

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