Guyana’s unemployment rate further declines – IDB report

Guyana’s economy continues along its upward trajectory poised to catapult development to new heights, resulting in a significant decline in the unemployment rate, as well as the balancing of inflation rates.

This is according to a recent report published by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), titled Regional Overview: Global and regional economies at a crossroads.

The report credits the booming oil and gas sector as one of the main drivers of economic development, as well as the decline in unemployment.

“The unemployment rate declined from 15.6 per cent in 2021 Q1 to 14.5 per cent in 2021 Q3, driven mostly by declines in the unemployment rate of men, which dropped to 12 per cent in 2021 Q3 compared to 18.4 per cent for women. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates further declines in the unemployment rate in 2022, falling to 12.4 per cent, (11 per cent for men and 14.4 per cent for women),” the report states.

The government has been on an aggressive drive to target the unemployment rate in Guyana, and this has seen rapid implementation of initiatives, such as the part-time jobs initiative, to assist persons in generating income.

According to the manifesto, the PPP/C government has committed itself to creating 50, 000 jobs by 2025.

Additionally, the implementation of Board of Industrial Training (BIT) programmes and the provision of over 20,000 scholarships for Guyanese have proved highly effective in enhancing the skillsets of Guyanese to increase employability.

Meanwhile, Guyana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is expected to grow by an additional 37.2 per cent in 2023 with the arrival of the third Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessel.

As the government prioritises the diversification of resources, heavy investments in non-oil and sustainable sectors such as agriculture saw the non-oil economy growing by 11.5 per cent in 2022. The sector is expected to grow by an additional 7.9 per cent in 2023.

According to the report,“The main drivers of growth in the non-oil economy in 2022 were agriculture, services, and construction, which grew by 11.9 per cent, 9.0 per cent, and 26.3 per cent, respectively. For 2023, these sectors are projected to grow by 7.2 per cent, 5.6 per cent, and 17 per cent.”

Guyana’s third FPSO, Prosperity, arrived at the offshore Stabroek Block in April and joins the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity, which are currently producing over 380,000 barrels per day. It is expected to operate on the Payara project, and designed to produce 220,000 barrels of oil per day, and has an overall storage volume of two million barrels. Daily oil production is expected to increase to almost 600,000 barrels a day in 2024 with production from the Prosperity vessel, boosting Guyana’s annual revenue. (DPI)