According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Guyana’s economic growth was in 2018 strengthened with broad-based expansion across all major sectors but structural reforms including possibly “more liberal” immigration policies are needed to support economic diversification, and achieve inclusive and equitable growth.
Yesterday, the IMF issued the concluding statement of its 2019 Article IV Mission. According to the Statement, due to the construction and services sectors, real GDP grew by 4.1 percent in 2018, up from 2.1 percent in 2017 while inflation remained steady at 1.6 percent at end-2018, on the back of stable food prices and exchange rate. It is expected that continued strength in the construction and service sectors and strong recovery in mining will lead to a 4.4 percent real economic growth in 2019.
Despite these improvements, weaker export performance and higher imports driven by high value imports related to oil production contributed to a weaker current account balance. Specifically in 2018, the current account deficit rose to 17.5 percent of GDP, from 6.8 percent in 2017.
