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Guyana is set to advance key transport infrastructure projects in 2026, with a total of $196.1 billion allocated for roads and bridges.

Presenting Budget 2026 in the National Assembly on Monday, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, highlighted both ongoing projects and new initiatives slated for advancement this year:

• Highways and major road expansions: $28.6 billion to continue the Heroes Highway from Buzz Bee Dam to Land of Canaan; $13 billion for the Ogle to Eccles Highway extension to Diamond; $6.1 billion for the Railway Embankment four-lane highway from Sheriff Street to Mahaica River Bridge, with the next phase from Mahaica to D’Edward commencing in 2026; $13.1 billion to continue the Soesdyke to Linden Highway; $10.4 billion to complete the Linden to Mabura Hill Road; and $7.6 billion to commence the Mabura Hill to Kurupukari Road.
• New four-lane highway projects: $15.1 billion for advancement of the Palmyra to Moleson Creek highway, and $6.5 billion for the Parika to Goshen route and the Sand Hills to Makouria link.
• Bridge construction and upgrades: $12.2 billion for new bridges at Berbice and Kurupukari, completion of the Wismar bridge, and continued collaboration with Suriname on the Corentyne River Bridge.
• Community and hinterland roads: $40.2 billion for construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance of community roads and drains; $10 billion for hinterland road works in Achiwib, Central Rupununi, Kaburi, Karisparu, Rupertee, and Shea.

Dr. Singh emphasised safety and network durability as key priorities in 2026, including:

• Automated speed enforcement: $382.9 million for a Safe Road Intelligent System with cameras and radar for real-time offence detection and automated fines.
• Speed regulators and truck parking: Installation of 8,000 auto control speed devices on trucks, and development of dedicated large-vehicle parking facilities starting in Grove for over 390 trucks.
• Weight control and enforcement: Expansion of weigh-in-motion scales and clamps to maintain structural integrity and regulate heavy truck limits.

The 2026 transport budget aims to integrate main population centres, ease congestion, improve commute times, and open up new productive lands, while supporting industrial, agricultural, and regional trade growth.

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Continued investments in the Gas-to-Energy project, a major expansion of the power lines and GPL’s overall electricity grid, and more renewable energy projects are among the projects the government will invest in through Budget 2026. 

This was revealed by Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh on Monday as he presented Guyana’s National Budget. According to him, these investments are for the “transformation and overhaul” of the local energy sector. 

Energy expansion and diversification got an $88 billion allocation in Budget 2025.

Some of the key investments and initiatives for the continued expansion of Guyana’s energy sector include: 

• $10.7 billion for the completion of Phase I of the Gas-to-Energy project at Wales, West Bank Demerara. That project is expected to slash energy costs in half by producing electricity from natural gas produced offshore; it should be completed by the end of 2026.
• Developing Phase II of the Gas-to-Energy project, and examining the establishment of a second Gas-to- Energy project in Berbice
• Resuscitating the Amalia Falls Hydropower project 

• $66.2 billion to upgrade Guyana’s transmission and distribution network
• $6 billion for the expansion of renewable energy sources, including new solar projects 

The Gas-to-Energy project is at the heart of Guyana’s energy expansion plans. 

Visibly incensed due to heckling from the opposition benches, Dr. Singh said, “We are proud that we will be the party in government that will build the power plant that will double the energy capacity of Guyana will those over there could not build something to harness one megawatt of our gas resources.”

Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh presenting the 2026 National Budget (Photo: News Room/ Jeremy Jagroop/ January 26, 2026)

Natural gas produced in the giant Stabroek Block offshore Guyana (where oil has been produced since 2019) will be transported onshore, through a massive pipeline, to Wales, where it will be converted to energy (electricity). A 300 megawatt (MW) power plant at Wales will generate cleaner, more reliable energy. 

But the transmission and distribution network is being expanded to push the power generated at Wales into homes, schools, offices, businesses, and other places. This network, essentially, is an overhaul for the existing Demerara- Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS), an old system that is sometimes plagued by issues leading to blackouts.

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Guyana is set to further strengthen its tourism and creative sectors in 2026, with the completion of the Hospitality and Tourism Institute and the development of the Palmyra Cultural Market among the flagship projects.

A total of $3.7 billion has been budgeted for the Orange Economy this year, building on $3.6 billion spent in 2025.

Presenting Budget 2026 in the National Assembly on Monday, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, highlighted the Government’s commitment to creating jobs, expanding opportunities, and empowering communities through tourism and culture.

The Hospitality and Tourism Institute, set to open in 2026, will train over 700 individuals, addressing workforce needs in the country’s growing tourism sector. Meanwhile, the Palmyra Cultural Market, with $1.3 billion allocated, will serve as a vibrant hub for creative expression, cultural exchange, and the promotion of local artistry.

Tourism in Guyana reached a record 453,489 visitors in 2025, supported by a 42 percent expansion in accommodation over the past five years, including 738 rooms added in 2025 alone. By the end of 2026, total room stock is expected to exceed 5,600, up from 3,280 in 2020, complemented by 115 registered Airbnb establishments offering 544 rooms.

Connectivity improvements have also expanded, with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines adding 1,650 weekly seats to Amsterdam and Air Transat offering twice-weekly flights to Toronto with 796 additional seats, with discussions ongoing with other carriers.

Diversifying tourism products remains central to the Government’s strategy, with new community-led and experiential offerings launched across 56 communities in 2025, alongside initiatives targeting conferences, weddings, reunions, and niche cultural and sporting events.

On the cultural side, Government continues to invest in Guyana’s creative talent through recording studios, festivals, and events. In 2025 alone, over 80 events were hosted, engaging more than 500 artistes, with three new recording studios under construction in Bayroc, Reliance, and Uitvlugt.

Dr. Singh emphasised that these initiatives, combined with digital platforms for creators, will position Guyana as a Caribbean leader in the creative cultural industries, leveraging its rich cultural heritage and diverse artistic traditions to drive economic growth through the Orange Economy.

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The government has allocated $113.2B to agriculture in 2026, with the biggest spending on drainage & irrigation, other crops and agro-processing

Presenting Budget 2026 in the National Assembly on Monday, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, highlighted the major allocations for the year:

• Drainage & Irrigation: $81.9 billion to expand and upgrade critical drainage and irrigation structures nationwide, including pump stations in Regions 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, and continuation of “Hope-like” structures in Regions 3, 5 and 6.
• Other crops: $3.3 billion for technical support, shade houses, plant protection services, and the Agriculture Information System to provide farmers with timely digital updates.
• Agro-processing: $745 million for new fruit pulping hubs, cold storage and packaging facilities, training of agro-processors, and the Parika agro-processing port facility.
• Sugar: $13.4 billion for mechanised harvesting, replacement of boilers, procurement of cane harvesters, construction of a conveyor system at Albion, additional dryers for Rose Hall and Uitvlugt, and expansion of value-added production.
• Rice: $430 million to improve production, invest in climate-controlled silos, promote high-yielding varieties, and expand trade to Mexico and Europe.
• Fisheries & Aquaculture: $1.5 billion to complete the feed mill and shrimp hatchery, expand cage culture, install vessel tracking devices, and launch a digital seafood market platform.
• Coconuts: $195 million to expand cultivation by 5,000 acres, distribute high-yielding seedlings, and construct a modern facility for processing coconut waste.

Dr. Singh said these investments build on progress made over the past five years, including reopening and upgrading GUYSUCO estates, modernising rice and other crop production, expanding fisheries and aquaculture, and establishing agro-processing hubs to reduce post-harvest losses and promote exports.

He emphasised that agriculture remains central to Guyana’s economic strategy for resilience, with a focus on improving farmer incomes, strengthening food security, and boosting the competitiveness of the country’s agricultural commodities both domestically and regionally.

The 2026 budget continues this trajectory, supporting mechanised farming, agro-industrial development, value-added production, and rural economic growth.

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The government has allocated $13.4 billion for the sugar industry in 2026, with a major push towards mechanisation, factory upgrades and expanded value-added production.

This is slightly up from the $13.3 billion that was spent on the sugar sector in 2025 and comes as the government continues efforts to restore the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) to long-term financial viability.

Presenting Budget 2026 in the National Assembly on Monday, Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh, said the coming year will see the conversion of more than 3,000 hectares of land for mechanised harvesting, alongside the procurement of new equipment and critical factory improvements across estates.

Dr. Singh outlined that in 2026, the government will replace three sugar boilers, procure five new cane harvesters, construct a conveyor system for billet canes at Albion, and acquire additional sugar dryers for the Rose Hall and Uitvlugt estates.

Plans also include the installation of billet cane feeder tables, expansion of value-added sugar production, and improvements to all-weather road access to ensure smoother transportation of billet canes.

He noted that these investments build on significant work already completed over the past five years to stabilise and revitalise the sector. During that period, the Government reopened the Rose Hall Estate and upgraded field and factory infrastructure at Albion, Blairmont, Rose Hall and Uitvlugt—moves which, according to Dr. Singh, helped re-energise rural communities that had been severely impacted by the industry’s decline.

As part of the restructuring effort, GUYSUCO also shifted its marketing and sales strategy away from bulk sugar towards higher-value products, while providing direct economic support to more than 5,200 severed workers. Today, the sector employs over 8,300 people.

Looking beyond 2026, Dr. Singh said the Government’s five-year objective is to deepen mechanisation, modernise factories, introduce high-yielding and high-value cane varieties, and invest in value-added production with private sector participation. The strategy also includes strengthening relations between workers, unions and management, while transitioning workers into higher-skilled roles.

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Guyana’s Natural Resource Fund (NRF) recorded inflows of more than US$2.4 billion in 2025, driven by increased crude oil production and additional petroleum-related payments, as the Fund closed the year with a balance of US$3.25 billion.

Presenting Budget 2026 in the National Assembly on Monday, Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, said there were 260 crude oil lifts from Guyana’s four producing Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels during 2025, including a combined inaugural lift from the One Guyana FPSO.

Of those lifts, 32 were executed on behalf of the Government of Guyana. These included six lifts from the Liza Destiny FPSO, 11 from Liza Unity, 12 from Prosperity and three from the One Guyana FPSO. Dr. Singh explained that profit oil payments received in 2025 reflected two lifts from the final quarter of 2024, 29 Government lifts carried out during 2025, as well as the Government’s share from the inaugural One Guyana lift.

For the year, the NRF received US$2.1 billion in profit oil. This comprised US$400.1 million from Liza Destiny, US$767.7 million from Liza Unity, US$824.4 million from Prosperity and US$133.6 million from the One Guyana FPSO. In addition, royalty payments of US$330.7 million were received from the Stabroek Block operator.

Petroleum revenues for 2025 were further bolstered by a US$15 million signing bonus from a new Production Sharing Agreement signed on November 11, 2025, with a consortium for the shallow-water Block S4 offshore Guyana.

Dr. Singh told the House that, in keeping with the Natural Resource Fund Act 2021 and approvals granted by the National Assembly, withdrawals totalling US$2.463 billion were made from the Fund to finance national development priorities under Budget 2025.

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As he delved into the presentation of the 2026 National Budget, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh reported that Guyana’s non-oil economy grew by 14.3% last year while the overall economy expanded by 19.3%. 

“Growth in the non-oil economy was driven largely by agriculture, mining, construction, and services,” Dr Singh told lawmakers in the National Assembly on Monday. 

In 2024, Guyana’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 43.6%; non-oil growth was 13.1%. Real GDP is an inflation-adjusted measure that reflects the value of all goods and services produced by an economy (in this case, Guyana’s economy) in a given year. In simpler terms, the real GDP measures a country’s total economic output, adjusted for price changes.

The expansion of Guyana’s GDP over the past several years has been largely attributed to the burgeoning oil and gas sector. However, Dr Singh said diversification efforts heralded in by the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) government led to substantial non-oil growth. 

The Finance Minister shared some of the sectoral highlights, including: 

• Agriculture, forestry & fishing – grew by 11.5%

Within this overall sector, Dr Singh said the sugar-growing subsector grew by 26.5%, even as production was hampered by heavy rainfall, labour shortages, and low employee turnout. The rice-growing subsector expanded by 15.7%.

• Mining and quarrying subsector – grew by 21% 
• Oil and gas subsector – grew y 21% 
• Gold mining subsector- grew by 11.6% 
• Bauxite mining subsector – grew by 53.4% 
• Other mining subsector – grew by 28.9% 
• Diamond declarations- declined by 24.2%
• Manufacturing – grew by 20% 
• Construction – grew by 31% 

With the growth recorded, Dr Singh said inflation stood at about 2.5% at the end of 2025. That was driven primarily by food prices, which rose by 4.4%. 

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Riding on a landslide electoral victory, the PPP/C government on Monday presented its first national budget of the new term, unveiling budget 2026 under the theme: “Putting People First”.

Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh was keen to note that Budget 2026 is important because it sets the government’s agenda for the next five years, having been re-elected in the 2025 General and Regional Elections, which delivered a seven-seat majority in the House and the strongest mandate for the party since 1992.

The total sum of the budget for 2026 will be unveiled at the end of the presentation.

Dr. Singh opened his budget speech by pointing to the government’s track record since 2020, including stabilising the country after COVID-19, restoring economic growth, strengthening democratic institutions, reviving and expanding social programmes and positioning Guyana as an attractive destination for investment.

According to Dr Singh, in his opening remarks, Budget 2026 is anchored in the PPP/C’s 2025 Manifesto, which places the well-being of citizens at the centre of policy, with the goal of translating national prosperity into real benefits for households and communities.

He said the budget is designed to ensure access to housing, quality healthcare, education, jobs, public safety and clean, well-serviced communities, while also creating opportunities for entrepreneurship, investment and long-term wealth creation.

Emphasis was also placed on resilience, with measures aimed at protecting the economy and citizens from global shocks, climate impacts and commodity price fluctuations, as Guyana approaches its 60th year of independence.

Dr. Singh said Budget 2026 lays the foundation for sustained growth and transformation, with its central focus firmly on improving lives and expanding opportunities for all Guyanese.

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Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, on Monday condemned comments made by the newly elected Leader of the Opposition, Azruddin Mohamed, warning that the remarks could see him hauled before the Privileges Committee if deemed in breach of parliamentary rules.

Addressing the House at the start of a sitting of the National Assembly, Nadir first congratulated all Members elected to the 13th Parliament, including Government Ministers and Opposition Leader Mohamed, while reminding them of the weight of responsibility that accompanies their office.

The Speaker stressed that every Member of Parliament must be thoroughly familiar with three key documents: the Constitution, the Standing Orders of the National Assembly, and the Handbook for Members of Parliament. He noted that these instruments govern conduct, debate and accountability within the House.

Referencing Article 50 of the Constitution, Nadir reminded Members that Guyana’s supreme organs of democratic power include Parliament, the President and the Cabinet, and said respect for these institutions is non-negotiable.

Against that backdrop, the Speaker condemned what he described as “vile comments” made by the duly elected Leader of the Opposition, cautioning that criticism of the Speaker must be pursued through the proper parliamentary channels.

“Anyone wishing to criticise the Speaker is free to do so by way of a substantive motion brought before this House,” Nadir said. “While I have thick skin, and 45 years in public life has tempered me well, I am not averse to acting firmly when criticism crosses the line.”

Azruddin Mohamed, with other WIN Parliamentarians, arrive at Parliament Buildings, where he was named Leader of the Opposition

He made it clear that the comments attributed to the Opposition Leader remain under consideration and could form the basis of a referral to the Privileges Committee, which is empowered to investigate breaches of parliamentary privilege and misconduct.

During his address, the Speaker also gave a detailed account of the process through which the Leader of the Opposition was elected eearlier on Monday.

He explained that the election was conducted during a meeting convened by him ahead of the presentation of the 2026 National Budget, formally establishing the opposition leadership in the 13th Parliament.

According to Nadir, Amanza Walton-Desir, the lone Member of Parliament from the Forward Guyana Movement, voted in support of Mohamed, along with the 16 Members from the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) group. He noted that the 12 APNU+AFC Members of Parliament exited the meeting after the nomination was made.

The Speaker further disclosed that he has since formally transmitted the outcome of the vote to President Dr Irfaan Ali by way of written correspondence, thereby completing the constitutional and procedural requirements for the recognition of the Leader of the Opposition.

Nadir reiterated that while robust debate is a cornerstone of parliamentary democracy, it must be anchored in respect for the rules, the office of the Speaker, and the institutions of the State.

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The 11 Members of Parliament (MPs) for A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) walked out of the meeting for the election of the Leader of the Opposition on Monday after fugitive offender Azruddin Mohamed was nominated for the post.

APNU chose not to nominate a candidate, but it also did not stay to vote for Azruddin.

Terrence Campbell, the lead Parliamentarian for APNU said APNU looked forward to working with Azruddin’s WIN party and hoped there would be an “improvement of collaboration.”

“It has not been the best road so far,” Campbell stated.

Amanza Walton-Desir of the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) remained for the vote and voted with Azruddin and his other 15 MPs to secure the position.

Mohamed indicated that the election took place without incident.

“The process was very smooth, no hiccups, no delay. In less than five minutes I was elected Leader of the Opposition, ready to serve the people of this country.

Azruddin Mohamed, along with his father Nazar Mohamed have been indicted on several charges in the United States and are now facing extradition proceedings. They are charged with, among other things, money laundering, wire and mail fraud, bribery and tax evasion and related allegations.

The election of the Leader of the Opposition was conducted during a meeting convened by Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, ahead of the presentation of the 2026 National Budget.

The process formally establishes the leadership of the parliamentary opposition in the 13th Parliament.

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