Economy projected to grow by 16.2% in 2026 – Dr Singh

Minister with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, on Monday announced yet another trillion dollar budget, for 2026, pegged at a whopping $1.558 trillion.

The budget will once again be funded with no new taxes, while the transfer from the Natural Resources Fund (NRF) to the national budget is estimated at $495 billion for 2026, along with projected carbon credit inflows of $49.7 billion.

Presented under the theme “Putting People First” in the dome of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, the budget comes as the country is projected to see a 16.2 percent in economic growth, on top of the 19.3 percent expansion that it experienced in 2025.

The non-oil economy is projected to grow by 10.8 percent in 2026 after a growth of 14.3 percent was experienced in 2025, largely driven by growth in the agriculture, mining, construction and services sectors.

“Guyana’s real economic growth is expected to remain strong, reflecting the pro-growth policies of our Government and the supportive policy frameworks we have put in place. The oil and gas sector will continue to be the main driver of overall growth, supported by sustained dynamism in the broader non-oil economy,” Dr Singh.

Meanwhile, inflation for this year is targeted at 2.5 percent, after 2025 saw a 2.5 percent inflation.

The oil and gas sector is projected to expand further by 17.9 percent this year, after having already expanded by 21 percent in 2025.

The agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector is projected to grow by some 7.6 percent this year, while the gold and bauxite mining subsectors are expected to expand by 5.4 percent and 19.3 percent, respectively, in 2026. In gold mining, declarations for this year are targeted at 510,450 ounces, with higher projected declarations from all categories of operators.

Bauxite production is targeted at approximately 4.8 million tonnes for 2026, with higher output expected from both large producers in the industry. In other mining and quarrying, growth of 10.3 percent is projected, driven by sustained expansion in sand and stone declarations to meet demand from the ongoing construction boom.

Growth in the manufacturing sector is projected at 12.9 percent this year, with expansion expected across all subsectors – sugar manufacturing, rice manufacturing and other manufacturing. These are projected to grow by 67.9 percent, 2.6 percent, and 13.5 percent, respectively. Meanwhile the construction sector is projected to grow by 25.4 percent this year, and growth in the services sector is targeted at 6.8 percent for 2026.

“This year, we expect to see continued growth in key service industries such as financial and insurance activities, wholesale and retail trade and repairs, transport and storage, professional, scientific and technical services, and administrative and support services. These industries are projected to grow by 11 percent, 8 percent, 5.3 percent, 23.2 percent, and 6.9 percent, respectively,” Dr. Singh noted.

Total export earnings are again expected to grow by 1.8 percent to US$20.5 billion, with export earnings from crude oil projected to grow by 0.9 percent to approximately US$18 billion reflecting projected price moderation. Non-oil exports are projected to increase by 8.6 percent to US$2.5 billion, mainly on account of higher anticipated export earnings of gold and bauxite, with greater output and favourable prices.

In 2025 total export earnings grew by 1.8 percent which accounted for US$20.1 billion, with an estimated US$2.3 billion in non oil export earnings.

Meanwhile, tax revenues are projected to grow by 11.7 percent to $486.1 billion. Internal revenue, customs and trade, and VAT and excise tax collections are projected to grow by 11.4 percent, 16.5 percent, and 10.3 percent, to $282.6 billion, $59.9 billion, and $143.6 billion, respectively. Non-tax revenues are expected to total $28 billion this year.

For 2025, the construction sector grew by 31 percent in 2025, with major transformational projects across all industries in both the public and private sectors, while the country saw an overall growth of 20 percent in the manufacturing sector, 11.5 percent in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector; eight percent growth in the services sector, 18 percent growth in private sector credit.

“Despite challenging and uncertain global context, this PPPC government’s robust policy framework enabled us to demonstrate consistently that economic growth can be strong and steady in the most testing of circumstances,” Dr. Singh noted as he gave an overview of the developments in the country’s domestic economy for 2025.

The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector saw increases across all sub sectors, with the sugar sector expanding by 26.5 percent despite challenges, producing 59600 tonnes of sugar.

“It is well known that production was hampered by heavy rainfall and that this was compounded by labour shortage, low employee turnout and challenges with factory machinery at some estates,” Dr. Singh explained.

Meanwhile, despite softer global rice prices and cash flow challenges, the rice subsector delivered another record breaking year in 2025, expanding by 15.7 percent in 2025 with the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) reporting some 810,299 tonnes of rice production.

“This marked the highest level of production in any year on record,” Dr. Singh remarked.

In the subcategory of other crops, there was an 11.1 percent growth in 2025 with expansion observed across all major crop categories. Production of soya beans and corn grew by 72.1 percent and 10.3 percent respectively.

The fishing industry experienced an estimated growth of 6.5 percent in 2025, with increases in the fish and aquaculture offsetting a 42 percent decline in marine shrimp production.

The forestry sector expanded by 2.7 percent in 2025, while the livestock industry expanded by 12.5 percent.

In the services sector there was a 15.5 percent expansion in financial and insurance activities, 8.6 percent expansion in wholesale and retail trade and repairs, 6.5 percent expansion in administrative and support services, and a 6.4 percent expansion in transport and storage

In the extractive industries the mining and quarrying sector expanded by 21 percent, the oil and gas subsector expanded by 21 percent,

The gold mining industry is estimated to have expanded by 11.6 percent, with total gold declarations of 484,321 ounces. Declarations from licensed dealerships declined to 121,883 ounces in 2025 however declarations to gold board grew by 45.6%

“The improved gold declaration is supported by tougher compliance and enforcement in the sector,” the minister noted.

The bauxite mining industry grew by 53.4 percent, with some 3.9 million tonnes of bauxite produced. Output from the country’s larger producer grew by 138.4% to 3.7 million tonnes.

Manganese production grew by 13.5 percent, while diamond declarations declined by 24.2 percent in 2025.

Of the total private sector credit recorded there was an 11.4 percent increase in the services sector, 4 percent increase in the agriculture sector, 29.7 percent increase in the manufacturing sector, 19 percent increase in real estate mortgages and 36.9 percent increase in lending to households.

In 2025, the banking sector also continued to reflect improving quality.

For the fiscal year, the net domestic credit increased by 30 percent, with credit to households rising by 36.9 percent accounting for some $66.1 billion. This was primarily supported by an increase in credit for motor cars, which was $33.3 billion.

“This is another additional manifestation for our government’s ongoing efforts to increase access to financing and promote increased standard of living,” Dr. Ashni noted.