Gov’t seeks $57.5 billion more for national projects

Georgetown, May 16, 2025: The Government of Guyana has been moving ahead steadily with its continued development agenda and today Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service Dr. Ashni Singh presented Supplementary Appropriation Bill No 1 of 2025 to the National Assembly to continue Government’s programmes for 2025.

The Bill presented to the House caters for a number of programmes including Government’s comprehensive and expanding electricity programme under the Office of the Prime Minister to the tune of $29. 5 billion of which $28. 8 billion is to support the upgrade and expansion of electricity distribution networks and $738 Million to expand coverage to unserved areas, the 100,000 cash grant initiative and further amounts to continue infrastructure development for housing and additional works on road and sea defence throughout the country.

Government’s electricity programme under the energy sector has been addressing longstanding issues of electricity reliability, affordability, and access as well as service to new areas through the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) and those in the hinterland. The Government has also been placing heavy focus on enhancing the nation’s energy infrastructure and accelerating a transition to more sustainable power sources. The ambitious Gas-to-Energy (GtE) project, which is set to revolutionise the country’s energy landscape has also been advancing. In addition, previously unserved areas such as New Forest in Region Six and many other areas now receive electricity for the first time, while the Government has provided solar panels to a large number of hinterland communities that are not in close proximity to the national grid.

In October 2024, President Ali announced the $100,000 cash grant initiative and thousands have so far benefitted. The supplementary amount totalling $3 Billion caters for additional funds to continue the process.

In addition, Government has been continuing its build out of massive infrastructure throughout the country. To this end, an amount of $2.9 Billion has been allocated for continuation of road works countrywide under the Ministry of Public Works for improved connectivity, while $12 Billion has been allocated to cater for additional works under the Ministry of Housing and Water to support Government’s aggressive housing programme.