Signing bonus invested in US, Canadian bonds

By Bibi Khatoon

The Government of Guyana has invested the US$18M signing bonus from ExxonMobil in United States and Canadian bonds in order to gain interest, Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan announced at a press conference today.

The Government received US$18M from ExxonMobil in September 2016. A letter to the Bank of Guyana for the creation of an account to receive the money had prescribed that the proceeds should be held in US dollars and “invested in secured interest-bearing securities.”

The Finance Minister disclosed that the money was invested in the Mature US Treasury Bill, Interest on Canada bond, mature Canada bond and Purchase Neder Waterschapsbank.

“If it stays here, it’s going to sit down doing nothing,” he said.

According to a document which was released by the Finance Minister, the money has incurred an interest of US$36,169 at the end of March.

A total US$3M from the bonus was set aside by the Government for training and capacity building in the oil and gas sector while US$15M was set aside to fight Guyana’s case against Venezuela at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).