Senior Finance Minister holds discussion with visiting World Bank Vice President Carlos Felipe Jaramillo
As the World Bank continues to be one of Guyana’s most active development partners, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr. Ashni K. Singh, today met with the Bank’s Vice President for the Latin America and Caribbean Region, Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, and Country Director for the Caribbean, Lilia Burunciuc, at the Ministry of Finance. Country Representative of the Bank, Diletta Doretti was also present. Vice President Jaramillo and his team also met today with President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali for discussions surrounding Guyana’s development trajectory and projects being executed with support from the bank. The visit aims to reaffirm the World Bank’s commitment to Guyana, and to assess future areas for cooperation.
The meeting with Minister Singh served as an opportunity for dialogue on Guyana’s Low Carbon Development agenda, human capital development, and opportunities for partnership between the Government and the financial institution in other areas in line with its expanding and evolving capacity. Dr. Singh used this opportunity to place on record that the Government is very pleased with the ongoing engagement with the World Bank and reiterated that Guyana values immensely the support of the Bank. Minister Singh also highlighted the rapid growth being achieved by the private sector and urged for an increase in the private sector footprint of the IFC (International Finance Corporation).
Elaborating on Guyana’s exemplary climate credentials, Dr. Singh highlighted the important role of Guyana’s forests in national development and in combatting climate change globally, and in serving to mobilise resources from domestic assets. He explained that Guyana’s first Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) led to an agreement with Norway in 2009, earning the country US$220 million for climate services provided. The second generation LCDS 2030, which prioritises the evolution of sale of forest climate services, saw Guyana being the first country to be issued jurisdiction scale carbon credits; followed by the announcement of the world’s first sale of such credits. In 2022, after being awarded the first jurisdiction, Guyana sold 37.5 million carbon credits for US$750 million, to be paid during 2022-2032 (a third of the credits Guyana will receive over 2016-30), one of the largest transactions in the world. More recently, Guyana made the World’s First Paris Agreement Corresponding Adjustment for ART-Issued TREES Carbon Credits, allowing for the authorization of carbon units for use in the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).
Vice President Jaramillo commended the Government of Guyana on its global leadership in forest conservation and supporting global climate change mitigation, noting that the Bank continues to be interested in the good learning practices that Guyana has to offer on climate efforts. He also reaffirmed the Bank’s commitment to working with Guyana in promoting economic and social development.
The World Bank is one of Guyana’s main development partners especially in Human Capital Development, with over US$70 million invested in human capital development through several projects including strengthening the Human Capital Project and enhancing policies. Oher loans and grants include a US$20 million loan for the Guyana Petroleum Governance and Management Project to support the enhancement of legal and institutional frameworks and the strengthening of the capacity of key institutions to manage the Oil and Gas sector in Guyana. Additionally, the Bank loaned US$6 million to Guyana under the Guyana Payments System Project to improve Guyana’s national payments system, while another US$13.3 million was loaned for the Guyana Education Sector Improvement Project to improve student learning outcomes through reform of curriculum and teaching practices, US$37.9 million under the Flood Risk Management Project, and US$12.5 million towards the COVID-19 Emergency Response Project.
Following today’s meetings, the World Bank’s team, guided by officials from the Ministry of Finance is slated to inspect various developmental project sites which form part of the World Bank’s project portfolio in Guyana.