Credit card spending hits US$356M so far in 2026 – Pres. Ali

As the economy continues to expand, President Dr Irfaan Ali has highlighted changing spending patterns among citizens, revealing that credit card transactions have amounted to approximately US$356 million so far this year. He made the disclosure during a press conference on Monday as he pointed to the increased in spending power among Guyanese.

“Just on foreign currency, I will give you an example. In 2024, US$140 million in credit card settlement in Guyana…in 2025, to settle credit card alone, guess what it went to, US$430 million, an increase of 207 per cent. Isn’t that sign of a changing pattern? Isn’t that a sign of a more complex financial system of Guyanese buying more, using credit card more?” the President expressed.

“And so far in 2026, already, US$356 million,” he added, indicating that this will increase tremendously when persons returning from vacation settle their debts as well as when online shopping for Christmas is processed.

“That is a type of growth and difference we’re talking about. That’s just one indicator of changing patterns,” he expressed.

Looking at spending pattern projections for the remainder of the year, the Head of State disclosed that “September 10th to the 30th, we have about a projected demand of US$354 million. October US$385 million. November US$400 million. December US$436 million. That’s US$1.575 of projected demand to the end of the year,” the President highlighted.

Meanwhile, he noted that 59,951 new bank accounts were opened between the period April to August 2026. He added that from October 2024 to August 2026, there are now 179,758 accounts opened.

Ali’s disclosures on spending patterns among citizens come on the heels of comments he made at his last press conference in August about other indicators of Guyanese changing behaviour. At the time, the Head of State was addressing concerns on the rising cost of living in Guyana, pointing to several converging factors, ranging from global imported inflation to shifting consumer habits. President Ali had pointed to more families eating out and cooking less at home as part of the shift.

Cost of living

Addressing the issue of cost of living again on Monday, the Head of State noted that the Government has been working, and will continue to put systems in place, to help ease the pressures associated with the global rise in the cost of living, which is also being felt by locals.

For instance, when it comes to energy, Ali explained that the Government is shielding citizens from billions of dollars in imported costs. “From January to now, the import of refined product like gas has increased by 51 per cent, and diesel that is used for generation by 86.8 per cent. That is increased costs because we import these refined products. Do you know, and you’re aware of, you’re aware that not a cent of this increase has been passed on to the consumer? GPL has absorbed all of this. Because of what? Because the Government has increased its subsidies to cushion this cost increase so that it is not passed on to the Guyanese,” he noted.

Ali also pointed to measures taken in the past that contributed to cushioning the rise in cost of living.

“We reversed the 220 per cent increase in drainage and irrigation (D&I) fees and the 600 per cent increase in land rental fees. We reversed that so that we can help farmers to be more productive. We can remove this cash burden on farmers. This has led to savings of approximately $1.4 billion every year for our farmers…Just by this one measure, remove VAT on machinery, equipment, fertilisers, agrochemicals, pesticides and key poultry industry input, remove of excise tax on fuel, saving farmers and consumers billions of dollars over the years, hundreds of billions of dollars, restore the zero-rated VAT status on basic food items, flour, bread, oats, crackers, biscuit, cooking oil. You remember that? All of that we did. We had $281 billion allocated to drainage and irrigation, $5.7 billion invested in farm-to-market access road. All of this was to bring down the cost of production, increase productivity, $40.9 billion to reduce farmers’ costs by financing important D&I infrastructure. And then, of course, the investment in technology to support our farmers across the country,” the President outlined.

Farmers’ markets countrywide

Now, he said, the Government is working on rolling out farmers’ markets countrywide. “We have started from the last press conference we had here through the Guyana Marketing Corporation. We had chicken prices slashed by half almost in all of the markets. Eggs also slashed substantially. We are now working with farmers to bring their produce directly to the market so we can have that elasticity in terms of the differential between the wholesale and retail price address in a structured way,” he explained.

Longer term measures are being pursued to further shield the country from global shocks including the launch of the Guyana Development Bank (GDB) to support small businesses as well as investments in the establishment of a fertiliser plant and a gas bottling plant.

“The investment in a gas bottling plant that will see your cooking gas so you can make some nice, delicious food at home,” Ali remarked.

The President added that later this week, he will meet with the Foreign Relations Subcommittee as well as the Economic Services Subcommittee of Parliament to ensure more stakeholders understand how the Government, from a policy level, is addressing the issue of cost of living.