Focus now shifting from securing funds to delivering project results – Finance Minister

As Guyana’s economy continues to grow with a large number of transformational projects completed across the country and hundreds more in the pipeline, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance Dr Ashni Singh on Friday led a Government of Guyana/World Bank Group Country Performance Review at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).

During the all-day review process, Minister Singh said, “What I would ask is that the focus be on execution,” adding that, “We have mobilised resources, and we have earmarked them for project interventions, but the big issue now is delivery, and I want us to use this day to make sure that we focus on implementation and execution, moving as quickly as possible to procurement, design, delivery and implementation.”

Dr Singh pointed out further that he had made the call to the World Bank to use the International Development Association (IDA) – the concession lending arm of the World Bank Group to leverage allocations for the innovative projects being reviewed, such as the Caribbean Efficient and Green Energy Buildings, Coastal Adaptation and Resilience, Integrated Transport Corridors and One Health projects and that these are reflective of this call.

The high-level portfolio review brings together senior government officials, project implementation units (PIUs), and World Bank representatives to assess progress, address implementation bottlenecks, and agree on actions to accelerate project outcomes across Guyana.

During the review process, Dr Singh was joined by senior officials of his Ministry, including Director of Projects Bernard Lord and Head of Multilateral Financial Institutions Donald DeClou.

The World Bank team was led by Acting World Bank Group Country Manager for Guyana and Suriname Juan Carlos Alvarez.

In his remarks at the forum, Alvarez, while thanking both teams for their participation, noted that the review’s main objective is delivery and effective implementation. He emphasised that the projects are not World Bank projects but are Government projects financed by the international financial institution.

“It is in both of our interests to ensure that they are implemented effectively, and it is important that we use this opportunity to identify any potential bottlenecks and find solutions so that the persons for which the projects are intended will get the benefit of the development,” the World Bank representative said.

The full-day review involved evaluating key active and pipeline projects critical to Guyana’s long-term sustainable and economic development, evaluating project outputs, identifying implementation challenges, documenting lessons learned, and signing off on a unified matrix of agreed actions to scale up delivery across all sectors.

Only recently, Minister Singh described the excellent engagement he had with World Bank Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean, Susana Cordeiro Guerra, during his participation in the 2026 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
World Bank Group (WBG) held in Bangkok, Thailand.

During those discussions, the minister noted that the WBG continues to be a good, reliable partner to Guyana and reaffirmed this government’s continued commitment to a strong, enduring partnership with the WBG.