Dear Editor,
Guyana stands at a defining moment in its economic history. The discovery and production of vast offshore oil reserves have created opportunities that previous generations could scarcely have imagined. Yet the true measure of our success will not be the volume of oil produced or the billions of US dollars deposited into the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) or our annual GDP growth rate. It will be whether we transform this temporary resource wealth into lasting national prosperity.
The current Natural Resource investment mandate remains centred on deposits at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, earning overnight interest. While this approach prioritises capital preservation and liquidity, it raises a legitimate question about whether Guyana is making the most of its growing financial resources.
There is an important distinction between keeping money safe and investing wealth strategically. A prudent investment strategy must protect the principal, provide adequate liquidity for foreseeable obligations and seek sustainable returns that preserve and increase purchasing power over time. The objective should be to establish an investment portfolio that balances security, liquidity, income generation and long-term growth. The appropriate allocation to each asset class should be determined by independent professional analysis, clear investment objectives and a transparent assessment of risk.
The PPP has consistently spent around 90% of earnings from oil. This profligacy puts the goal of lasting national prosperity in peril. Speaking on the Guyana Dialogue on October 15, 2026, Minister of Natural Resources, Mr. Vickram Bharrat, indicated that the PPP has no immediate plan to curb excessive spending. Mr. Bharrat was quoted as saying “maybe in the future at some point in time when we are in a better position, then we too might look at investment”. It seems that responsible investment may, emphasis on may, be considered at some point in the distant future.
Norway now has the largest sovereign wealth fund (SWF) in the world. Its SWF finances 20% to 25% of its annual public budget. The success of Norway’s SWF rests on three important questions answered decades ago. How much to save? How much to use? Where to invest?
In Guyana, we talk a lot about oil but we, as a nation, have failed to ask and answer these questions even after seven years of oil production. If we are to achieve lasting prosperity, we must correct this failure in short order.
Answering these questions is especially important because Guyana’s oil resources are finite. Petroleum extracted today cannot be extracted again tomorrow. If we consume the proceeds without building a durable financial and productive foundation, we risk leaving future generations with depleted natural resources and insufficient assets to sustain their prosperity.
A well-managed sovereign wealth fund should help convert oil revenues into enduring financial wealth. That requires more than accumulating cash or financing annual government expenditure. It requires a deliberate strategy for building assets whose value and returns can benefit Guyanese long after commercial oil production has declined.
There must also be greater public discussion about the investment mandate of the NRF. The public should understand the Fund’s objectives, the risks being accepted, the returns being achieved and the criteria used to determine whether its investments are performing satisfactorily.
We should commission an independent review of the NRF’s investment strategy, examining international best practices and the experiences of countries that have successfully managed substantial natural-resource revenues. Such a review should be conducted transparently, with its findings and recommendations made available to the public. Politically expedient decisions must be avoided in favor of decisions guided by professional expertise, sound governance and the long-term interests of the Guyanese people.
In additional comments on the same Guyana Dialogue program, Minister Bharrat explained that Guyana’s current priority “is financing infrastructure, education, and healthcare”.
Our policymakers need to resist the temptation to confuse national development expenditure with investment of the Fund itself. Building roads, hospitals, schools, housing and other essential infrastructure is important. But these expenditures must be assessed on their own merits, with proper attention to value for money, economic returns, maintenance costs and the benefits they will deliver to citizens.
A country needs both productive domestic investment and a well-managed financial portfolio. Our national conversation must therefore move beyond how much oil money we receive and how quickly we can spend it. We must ask how much wealth we can preserve, how effectively we can grow it and what enduring assets we will leave to our children and grandchildren.
The opportunity before us is immense. Let us approach it with the seriousness, discipline and imagination it deserves. Guyana’s oil wealth must become more than a temporary source of government revenue. It must become the foundation of lasting national wealth.
Yours truly,
Terrence Campbell, M.P.
