Performance of public enterprises cause for worry – Finance Minister

The performance of the public enterprises remains a cause for concern with the budgeted deficit of $10.1 billion, deteriorating  to a latest forecast of $15.8 billion, for 2018 – a deterioration from the deficit of $13.0 billion recorded for 2017, Finance Minister Winston Jordan said today.

Delivering his 2019 budget, he said this has resulted mainly from lower sugar production by GuySuCo, and higher acquisition costs for fuel by Guyana Power and Light Incorporated and the Guyana Oil Company in 2018. Overall, between the budgeted and revised positions for 2018, revenue  from public enterprises dropped by 2.8 percent, to $120 billion, while the total non-interest expenditure rose by 8.2 percent to $126 billion.