The total public debt (external and domestic) was US$1.7B as of March 31, 2012, according to Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh, confirming the relatively high debt that the country still carries.
The figure was provided by Singh during Thursday’s session of the National Assembly, in res-ponse to a question by AFC MP Moses Nagamootoo.
The total public debt figure was US$2.1B at September 30, 1992, Singh also said.
At today’s exchange rate with the US dollar, Guyana’s debt in local dollar terms was higher in 2012 than in 1992. In 1992, the exchange rate was $126 to US$1 while a figure of $204 was used last year. The debt figure for 2012 was $338B compared to $263B in 1992.
Nagamootoo, asked Singh to supply the debt figures at September 30, 1992 and March 30, 2012. He also asked for confirmation of the figures at the end of 2010 and 2011.
Singh provided the debt figures for 2010 and 2011 and said that the figures that had been cited in Nagamootoo’s question were not complete.
When in opposition, the PPP had blasted the then PNC government for the US$2.1B debt. On its accession to office, the PPP/C benefited from several tranches of substantial debt write-offs by the Paris Club group of debtors. This was followed by multilateral debt relief from the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank and others. Observers noted that this debt relief was accompanied by significant borrowing by the Bharrat Jagdeo administration from the IDB and other lenders. Increasingly, the loans were on less concessionary terms and so debt servicing would be more onerous in the future.
