NRF to be repealed or amended

DPI, Guyana, Saturday, August 15, 2020

Vice President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, Hon. Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, has stated that the Natural Resources Fund (NRF) will either be amended or revised.

He made this announcement during a media briefing at the Arthur Chung Conference Center (ACCC) on Friday. According to Dr. Jagdeo, the new PPP/C Government found several discrepancies with the bill.

“The Natural Resources Fund will be very soon either… repealed or amended… through a Bill. Clearly, we have a number of issues with the Natural Resources Fund, and one of which is the overwhelming dominance of the influence of the Minister of Finance on the sector and the use of the funds,” he remarked.

According to Dr. Jagdeo, the PPP/C Government has made it clear that:

“[We] want a more arm’s length relationship in terms of management of these funds. That was our fundamental problem with the Bill and the Act that was passed.” 

The Minister of Natural Resources, Hon. Vickram Bharrat, during a recent radio interview, explained that to ensure there is no political inference with the NRF the new administration has removes ministerial powers and allowed for more involvement of stakeholders including the private sector

In January 2019, the NRF was signed into law by then-President, David Granger. Guyana commenced oil production in December 2019 and has since received more than $19,866,269,579.49 (US$94,921,803.00) in royalties and other payments. The funds are being held in an account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

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