Significant oil fields have recently been discovered in Guyana. Their development would likely result in government revenues that are large compared with public spending, other domestic revenues and the economy. Large petroleum revenues, if wisely managed, can contribute to sustainable economic development. However, if poorly managed,they can retard economic development and create a ‘resource curse’. More specifically, they can lead to a loss of economic competitiveness, volatile and inefficient public spending,and unsustainable consumption. This is the summary of a workshop, held in Georgetown on 21–22 June 2017, that examined how petroleum development might influence Guyana’s development trajectory as well as the various mechanisms of saving petroleum revenues and rules for spending them. The seminar was hosted by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Natural Resources.
A summary of the workshop is available at the link below.
