Spend oil money strictly on what is needed to make life better for citizens — Mike Persaud — Opinion

Replying toOil wealth will be pledged away to creditorsLetter 2 of 2

Spend oil money strictly on what is needed to make life better for citizens

Mike Persaud

October 5, 2026·1 min read

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Oct 3, 2026KW

Oil wealth will be pledged away to creditorsCharles Sugrim

Oct 5, 2026KW

Spend oil money strictly on what is needed to make life better for citizens

Mike Persaud

Dear Editor,

I refer to Charles Sugrim’s letter in KW (September 3rd) complaining about the State of Guyana taking on too much debt, despite receiving higher levels of oil revenues.^[1]

I’d like to comment as follows:

Guyana (less than one million people) is a very small country compared to many other oil countries. Given an oil reserve of 11 billion barrels, 0.5% royalty and 5% of revenues as “profit-share” would generate enough revenues to rebuild all the roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, put in new railways, replace all ferry boats and wharves in the whole country, etc.; so, – – it is not about lack of, or too much revenues – it is about three things:

Oil is a non-renewable resource and this nation should be paid fairly for its resource;
Spend your money strictly on what is needed to make life better for all its citizens;
Like Kuwait and Norway, with huge SWFs, Guyana should place all “surplus” funds into a properly managed SWF. This nation will need it – to maintain the same higher level of standard-of-living – when the oil reserve is depleted.

Guyana should also commission studies that will teach you how to build a self-sustainable economy. In many countries (Venezuela is an example), oil accounts for 90% of the economy, and when the oil runs out or oil prices collapse, your country falls back into third-world country status and your people’s standard-of-living retrogresses back into poverty.

President Ali comes off as a more confident leader than 5-years ago; he is the leader of a nation on the rise. But the reality is: Guyana is mired in too many political and social problems. Too much corruption. And, Ali’s leadership in my opinion, does not inspire hope. However, we do see a lot of paid propagandists boosting Ali’s leadership on false facts and false reasonings.

Note: Guyana receives 2% royalty and 12.5% of revenues as “profit-share”.

Yours faithfully,
Mike Persaud

References

Oil wealth will be pledged away to creditors ↩

Oil wealth will be pledged away to creditors

Charles Sugrim · KW

Mid-Year Report 2026 is masterpiece of deception, Guyana experiencing classic resource curse - Kiskadee Watch

kiskadeewatch.com · 2026-10-04

I fully endorse the sentiments expressed by one of the WIN Party leaders, Mr. Charles Sugrim in yesterday’s edition of Kiskadee Watch captioned “Reckless borrowing by Guyana gov’t will see our oil wealth pledged away to banks, other creditors”. I wish to add further evidence found in the Ministry of Finance’s Mid-Year Report 2026. ... Mr. Sugrim correctly notes that the Overall Deficit After Grants deteriorated from negative $35 billion in HY 2025 to negative $105 billion in HY 2026. The picture is worse when examining the Non-Financial Public Sector deficit of $108.9 billion, which includes public enterprises. GPL and GuySuCo are leaders in the plunder of people’s money—spent on Turkish businessmen and big contractors now cutting canes. The small man gets very little. ... The NRF received US$2,063.8 million in HY 2026 but withdrew US$1,020 million. The Report warns: “As additional projects are approved, and their development costs enter the cost bank, the profit-oil ratio will move again.” Yes— downwards! With four more oil projects awaiting approval, the next four years will bring economic hardship. That is President Irfaan Ali’s legacy – hardship on the poor people of Guyana. Debt sustainability: The elephant in the room Borrowing tripled between HY 2025 and HY 2026: - Net external borrowing: $19 billion → $71 billion - Net domestic borrowing: $16 billion → $35 billion - Total Government Guaranteed debt: US$8.6 billion (end-June 2026), up from US$7.7 billion (end-2025) The Report’s claim of a 28.6% debt-to-GDP ratio is deeply misleading. Oil accounts for 81.2% of GDP and is temporary. Strip out oil, and the debt-to-non-oil-GDP ratio exceeds 150%; worse than under President Jagdeo. This is not prudence; it is masking insolvency behind oil-inflated figures. Interest payments rose by GUY$5 billion in HY 2026 to GUY$13.8 billion. At this pace, annual interest will exceed GUY$20 billion by year-end. This is our money flowing to lenders, not the citizens. ... The Mid-Year Report 2026 is a masterpiece of deception; impressive numbers masking a Ponzi Scheme. When it crumbles, only the poor will suffer since some of these senior government officials are now multi-billionaires and have generational wealth after six years in Office. Guyana is experiencing a classic resource curse: rapid GDP growth driven by oil, rising debt, declining agriculture, institutional bottlenecks, and opaque fiscal transfers. The NRF is being depleted. The debt-to-non-oil-GDP ratio is alarming – 150%. Labour shortages are delaying projects. Agriculture is contracting. Inflation is hurting the poor. ... Finally, it is good to see the WIN Party as the main opposition writing on these policy defects. This must be continued to ensure the people know that there are people out there in the opposition who can understand the crisis and can create a plan to take the nation out of this economic crisis affecting the poor people of Guyana. This letter from Mr. Charles Sugrim warms my heart since it means that the opposition does have people who are thinking on the big issues.