Dear Editor,
The Mid-Year Report dated August 28 (?) contains a figure that deserves attention. In paragraph 3.64, the Minister responsible for Finance projects petroleum deposits into the Natural Resource Fund of US$6,497.6 million for 2026. That is 136.8 per cent above what was assumed when Budget 2026 was presented in January, before the war in the Middle East transformed the oil price.
The people’s share of that windfall now moves downward.
Consider how the current grant was determined. The G$73.6 billion appropriated for the National Cash Grant represents 14.3 per cent of the US$2,471.4 million deposited in 2025, the year on which this year’s withdrawal was calculated. That is the Government’s own proportion, derived from its own conduct. Apply the same proportion to the Minister’s own projection for 2026, and the citizen’s entitlement for the year is G$193.5 billion, or roughly G$270,000 for each adult. Of that, G$73.6 billion has been provided. The outstanding balance is G$121.8 billion, or about G$170,000 a head. So, I am not asking for a new benefit. I’m requesting the unpaid remainder of a share that the Government itself fixed.
Nor am I asking for a single additional dollar from the Fund. Paragraph 3.45 records that G$212.1 billion was withdrawn to June, with a further G$282.9 billion expected, exhausting the entire G$495.0 billion permitted this year. The money is coming out regardless. The only question is who receives it. The report shows where it can be found.
As of June 30, expenditure under the Public Sector Investment Programme stood at G$248.9 billion against a programme revised upward to G$829.7 billion. That is 30 per cent executed at the halfway point, requiring G$580.8 billion in the remaining six months – with many projects stalled and no Public Procurement Commission. Paragraph 3.52 is even more telling: first-half capital spending exceeded the same period of 2025 by G$1.9 billion, while the programme itself was enlarged by G$50.1 billion. The government has increased its plans by fifty billion dollars and its performance by two billion.
The people’s balance is not competing with roads and schools that will be built this year. It is competing with a projection that will not be met. But let me anticipate the reply. If it is said that putting G$121.8 billion into citizens’ hands would fuel inflation, I refer the Minister to his own paragraph 3.35, which presents cash support to every Guyanese over 18 as a measure to cushion rising costs and increase disposable income. The Government cannot describe this payment as relief at G$100,000 and as a danger at G$270,000 without telling us where the line falls and on what evidence.
Having regard to the real increase in cost of living belatedly admitted by President Ali, the Government must make a supplementary payment of G$170,000 to every Guyanese aged eighteen and over, before the end of the financial year, out of money already lawfully withdrawn.
And I ask the Minister the question for which the Government characteristically has no policy – let alone an answer. What percentage of this country’s petroleum receipts does the Government consider the Guyanese people’s correct share? If it is 14.3%, the balance is due now. If it is something less, please have him name the figure and explain why the people’s portion is reduced in the very year that oil revenue increases significantly.
I shall examine the Mid-Year Report more fully this weekend.
Yours faithfully
Christopher Ram
