Fiscal Accountability, Part II: Cash Grants, Public Enterprises and the Cost of the State

592 GUARDIAN♦ACCOUNTABILITY♦INTEGRITY IN JOURNALISM♦GUYANA

Fiscal Accountability, Part II: Cash Grants, Public Enterprises and the Cost of the State

OPINION BY : Hem Kumar September 2026

Guyana is receiving unprecedented oil income while public expenditure, public debt, transfers, infrastructure allocations, and cash-grant programs are expanding rapidly. This two-part series examines the unanswered questions inside the Government’s mid-year fiscal report—not to allege wrongdoing, but to establish what the public needs to see in order to verify that every dollar is properly accounted for.

That framing is important: transparency alone does not prove accountability, but public disclosure makes meaningful scrutiny possible Billions are being spent through cash grants, transfers, public enterprises and capital projects. Where is the public-facing record that allows citizens to follow the money?

Guyana’s fiscal expansion is moving at remarkable speed. Total Central Government expenditure reached G$599.8 billion in the first half of 2026, while the non-financial public sector recorded a deficit of G$108.9 billion.

The Government attributes the increase to accelerated program implementation, public-sector employment costs, social programs, cash grants, infrastructure and investment in power generation. Those may all be legitimate policy choices. But large public programs require equally large public disclosures.

The public must be able to determine who received money, which projects were funded, which contracts were awarded, what was delivered, and whether the results match the claims.

The G$42.5 billion cash-grant question

The report states that G$42.5 billion was spent in the first half of 2026 under the G$100,000 cash-grant program for persons aged 18 and older.

That amount is equivalent to approximately 425,000 payments of G$100,000 each. The Government should state precisely how many people were approved, how many were paid, how many remain unpaid, how many applications were rejected, and how many duplicate or ineligible claims were detected.

The issue is not whether citizens should receive assistance. The issue is whether a program of this scale has a transparent, auditable payment trail.

Questions on the cash grant

1.How many people were eligible for the G$100,000 grant?

2.How many were approved and paid as of June 30, 2026?

3.How many claims were rejected, duplicated, suspended or flagged for verification?

4.How many payments went by cash, cheque, bank transfer or other channel?

5.Which agencies, contractors, banks or payment providers administered the programme?

6.What were their service fees and administrative costs?

7.What controls prevented payments to deceased persons, duplicate applicants, non-residents or persons falsely claiming eligibility?

8.Will an anonymized regional payment register and an independent audit be published?

Public enterprises: G$53.6 billion in transfers

Transfers from Central Government to public enterprises reached G$53.6 billion in the first half of 2026, up from G$33.2 billion in the first half of 2025. The report identifies increased fuel-acquisition costs at Guyoil and rising generation and capital expenditure at GPL as key drivers. GPL’s capital program alone reportedly rose by G$24.7 billion compared with the corresponding period in 2025.

Those figures require more than a narrative explanation. Guyanese need audited accounts, procurement records, fuel-purchase information, capital-project details, vendor names, contract values, variations, payment schedules and performance reports.

Questions for GPL and Guyoil

1.What caused Guyoil’s fuel-acquisition costs to increase, measured by volume, supplier, product type and price?

2.Which companies supplied fuel to Guyoil, through what procurement method, and at what landed cost?

3.How much of GPL’s increased expenditure went to fuel, generation, transmission, maintenance, consultants, emergency works and capital projects?

4.Which projects comprise GPL’s additional G$24.7 billion capital program?

5.What contracts were awarded, to whom, and under what procurement method?

6.What payments have been made, what work has been completed, and what remains outstanding?

7.What are GPL’s technical and commercial losses, accounts receivable, subsidy requirements and debt obligations?

8.What portion of the G$53.6 billion in transfers is recurrent support versus capital financing?

The enlarged capital program

The Public Sector Investment Program was revised upward from G$779.6 billion to G$829.7 billion—an increase of G$50.1 billion—largely for power, housing and public infrastructure.

Capital spending can create necessary public assets. But it is also the area in which overruns, contract variations, delayed completion, weak supervision and emergency procurement can quickly consume public funds.

The public should not have to wait years for an audit to learn the cost, contractor, status and delivery record of projects funded in its name. Strong fiscal reporting should connect expenditure to policy areas, performance and usable underlying data.

Questions on infrastructure and PSIP spending

1.Which projects account for the G$50.1 billion PSIP revision?

2.What was each project’s original budget, revised budget and reason for revision?

3.Who are the contractors, consultants and supervising firms?

4.Were the contracts competitively tendered, single-sourced, negotiated or awarded through emergency procedures?

5.How much has been paid to each contractor as of June 30, 2026?

6.What percentage of each project is physically complete?

7.What contract variations, extensions or claims have been approved?

8.Which foreign-funded projects slowed or underperformed while domestic spending increased?

9.Has any project been moved from foreign financing to domestic financing, and if so, why?

Debt and exchange-rate accountability

Government reports public and publicly guaranteed debt of US$8.5731 billion at the end of June 2026, with domestic debt representing 61.4 percent of the total. Treasury bills make up about 84.4 percent of domestic PPG debt.

At the same time, the official exchange rate remained G$208.50 to US$1, while the reported market mid-rate moved to G$223.70. This difference should not be treated as a technical footnote. A persistent gap raises legitimate questions about access to foreign currency, the allocation of official-rate foreign exchange, and who bears the economic cost of the disparity.

Questions on debt and foreign exchange

1.What is the creditor-by-creditor breakdown of the US$8.5731 billion PPG debt?

2.What are the interest rates, maturity dates, grace periods, project purposes and repayment schedules for each new borrowing?

3.Which entities hold the Treasury bills, and what proportion is held by commercial banks, state-linked bodies, pension funds or other investors?

4.Were Treasury-bill auctions fully subscribed, and what were the bid-to-cover ratios?

5.What explains the widening gap between the official exchange rate and market mid-rate?

6.Who receives US dollars at the official rate, in what volumes, and under what allocation criteria?

7.What is the fiscal and economic impact of maintaining the official rate while the market rate moves higher?

Closing

The largest test of fiscal policy is not the budget speech, the half-year report or the headline number. It is whether the public can follow the money from appropriation to contract, payment, delivery and outcome.

Guyana has entered an era in which billions can move through oil revenues, cash grants, public enterprises, debt-financed projects and the national budget in a matter of months. That makes public verification non-negotiable.

The demand is straightforward: publish the ledgers, the contracts, the beneficiary reconciliations, the project reports, the debt schedules and the audit findings. Public funds must be publicly traceable.