Public debt up by $12.9B

Guyana’s total public debt increased from $317.7 billion to $330.6 billion in 2016 but the total debt as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined to 46.4% from 48.6% at the end of 2015 due to a nominal increase in the GDP.

This is according to the 2016 Public Debt Annual Report, which was presented to the National Assembly on Friday.

The report states that total external debt amounted to $240.0 billion (US$1,162.4 million) or 72.6 percent of total public debt, while domestic debt stood at $90.6 billion (US$438.6 million) or 27.4 percent of total public debt.

It explains that the “marginal increase was