As we mark the important milestone of our 60th Independence Anniversary, it is both timely and worthwhile to reflect on our country’s journey over these first six decades of nationhood, particularly in relation to the evolution of the Guyanese economy.
At the time of political independence in 1966, Guyana’s economy was small and concentrated, with limited value-added production, a population of 642,000, and per capita income of approximately US$350. The six decades since have seen the Guyanese economy traverse five relatively distinct chapters: a narrow productive sector based on a few primary commodities; nationalisation and state domination of the economy, along with economic contraction, and fiscal collapse; recovery built on economic liberalisation and fiscal discipline; an interregnum of economic retrogression; and in the last six years, economic transformation at a scale and speed that few would have dared to think possible in a single generation.
The journey to where we are today was not without challenges. We did not get here by ease and convenience, or by good luck and fortuitous circumstances. We got here by dint of clear vision, sound policy, steadfast implementation, perseverance, discipline, and hard work. Throughout every chapter in our economic history, the spirit of the Guyanese People remained indomitable. It is, above all, this spirit that saw us through our most difficult years and it is this spirit that has brought us to the threshold of opportunities once unimaginable for our country.
As we stand now on the eve of this historic milestone, it is as worthwhile to look back as it is to look ahead to a future that is very bright and very real. We are living in an era of exciting opportunities for us as a country and as individual Guyanese. Guyana is, by every relevant macroeconomic measure, in the strongest position it has occupied since its independence, with real GDP growth averaging 36.1 percent annually from 2021 to 2025, non-oil real GDP expanding by an average of 11.3 percent over the same period and, with a population of over one million, per capita income of over US$26,000 in 2025. We have successfully restored democratic legitimacy and rebuilt global credibility, we have regained attractiveness as a welcoming and hospitable environment for private investment by foreign and domestic capital, we have maintained strong and steady economic growth, and we have emerged from sovereign bankruptcy and restored fiscal sustainability through disciplined fiscal management.
Protecting these gains will require continued discipline and hard work but, with these, the future before us is full of promise and real prospect for national prosperity to be achieved and maintained, and for lasting economic empowerment to be realised by all of the Guyanese People.
As we come of age as a nation, Guyana’s finest hour beckons. I wish every Guyanese, at home and in the diaspora, a meaningful 60th Independence Anniversary.
