Prime Minister Godwin Friday says his New Democratic Party (NDP) government is exploring ways to ease the pressure the EC$3.1 billion national debt places on government finances.
Friday, who is also the minister of finance, disclosed the size of the national debt in radio interviews this week, adding that he was still reviewing information on the nation’s fiscal situation, three weeks after the NDP was voted into office.
Friday spoke about the national debt in an interview on Hot 97 on Tuesday and also addressed the topic during a similar appearance on Boom FM on Wednesday — Christmas Eve.
He said that, despite the fiscal situation, his government will honour the promises it made to citizens during the campaign for the Nov. 27 general election, reiterating that a salary bonus will be paid in January.
“I’m not going to use that as an excuse because you will not get an excuse, because I will honour those pledges,” the prime minister said.
He said that the budget that he will bring to Parliament in January will increase public assistance to EC$500, as the NDP had also promised in the campaign.
Social welfare recipients will begin receiving that amount from February.
Asked where the money will come from, the prime minister said, “You let me worry about that.”
He noted that the Ministry of Finance has not had to prepare a transition document on the state of the economy for a new government in 25 years.
“So, they prepared that, to me, it’s a fairly thick document, and I’m working my way through it,” the prime minister said on Hot 97.
Friday became prime minister on Nov. 28, one day after the NDP won 14 of the 15 parliamentary seats, with the remaining one going to the Unity Labour Party (ULP), which had been governing the country since March 2001.
Friday said that there are some things that his party knew about government finances.
“.. we knew that the government finances are tight. You have a debt now that is over $3 billion … $3.1 billion in public debt.”
The prime minister said a lot of the debt is to countries, some is owed to the Caribbean Development Bank CDB and other parts are financial instruments that had been floated to be able to pay for certain things.
He said there are payables that the government had not been honouring to local businesses.
“And it’s quite a lot …” he said, adding that while he had the figure, he did not want to disclose it as yet.
“… I have to remember that I’m not in opposition,” said Friday, who served as opposition leader from November 2016 to November 2025.
“I’m not here to expose and depose. … I want the people in my office — they are very capable people — to do their job without feeling that they’re in a fishbowl and that they can’t trust the prime minister with certain information,” Friday said.
“… the point of the matter is we are looking very carefully at what the financial status of the country is. We knew before going into government that things were difficult.
“What we didn’t know is how difficult they were. But as I say, that is something that was not outside my expectations.”
Asked how bad, on a scale of one to 10, the economy was, the prime minister said, “Eleven.”
He said the government has not appointed auditors to look into government financing, as they are trying to get a sense of the situation.
The prime minister said his cabinet is going through the process of assessing wastage in government.
“There are individual things we could see from when we were outside,” he said.
The prime minister said the NDP had cutting wastage in mind when it announced during the election campaign that an NDP government would pay EC$500 to fmailies on the birth of a child.
“And people said, ‘Oh, where you go get the money from?’ Well, what it costs to do the baby bonus for one year is what they spent on the Emancipation cricket tournament,” he said, referring to the cricket festival that the ULP administration held in August.
“But the point was that if you put those money where they’re supposed to go, then people benefit, and it doesn’t cost anything more,” Friday said.
Meanwhile, in his interview on Boom FM, the prime minister said the size of the national debt means that one-third of the money that the government collects goes to debt servicing.
To illustrate, he said that if someone borrows EC$50,000 to buy a minivan, they don’t want to pay it back by borrowing from friends.
“’Cause if you’re borrowing to pay back your loan, then you’re digging a deeper hole for yourself…
“It applies the same way that you have to pay from what you earn. We have not been able to do that. And so, what’s been happening is that a big chunk of the money that we earn, more than a third of it, goes just to service debt , and very often we don’t have that because you have to meet other obligations. You have to pay health care, to pay for education and fix the potholes in the road …”
The prime minister said the government has to find ways to tighten up the financing of development projects.
“… to find ways in which to make savings and to also be more efficient and also to stabilise the situation going forward as we invest in growing the economy.”
He, however, said this does not mean “banding yo’ belly” as the host of the show suggested.
“Well, I wouldn’t use that language. The point of the matter is, I’m bringing hope to people. What I’m saying, what I want to do is that we are going to be focused on essentially running government, the finances of government, in the way that it was designed to be done.”
He said the ULP administration did things that seemed expedient or convenient and justified it by saying it was being done in the interest of the poor.
“The point of the matter is that if you are serving poor people, you don’t get yourself in a situation where, instead of paying debt at 3 and 4% interest, you’re borrowing, or you’re doing overdrafts and so forth that you’re borrowing, or you’re paying back at 8% interest. That takes money away from what you can do to help people.”
Friday said the NDP has complained for years about the government ignoring the guardrails that govern how government finances should be managed.
He said it might take the NDP government some time to correct the situation but it is committed to doing so.
“… because it is part of good governance. People look at us from the outside and say, ‘These guys are serious about running the country properly.’
“And then, also for the ordinary folk here, the ordinary people in the country, it benefits them more because it means that government revenue, the fiscal position of government, is basically sounder.
“And you don’t have this situation where you always have to be borrowing and borrowing and borrowing and borrowing at expensive rates that create hardship for people,” the prime minister said.
We’ll have to think outside the box we call CBI to even begin to break even..Vincentians swallowed every promise made; hook,line and sinker. I honestestly don’t think this government knows really where to begin. Easy to talk the talk. You inherited a port and airport,which I insists ,you weren’t capable of building,were you in power.Just don’t have what it takes.
You have a lot of people looking to you,because you have the answers. Please,I do not have any dogs in this fight..just think our people so gullible. I’ll be the first to say I was wrong if Vincy rises under this new administratuon.
Big up the Farmers for a start
Mr. Prime Minister I don’t like your answer to the question, “where the money will come from”. Your answer “let me worry about that”; is almost like Ralph peeping around the corner and knows what’s there.
Before the election I have penned the idea that the cupboard is probably empty and that’s why I penned another idea that the new ministers should shut their mouths until they examine the cupboards.
The loan amount of $3plus billion is pretty steep hill to climb and will take a lot of time to be repaid. I am sure you probably knew; or had some idea of the debt Ralph left the NDP. His borrowing habit is causing the island problems today.
There was no need for the port at this point because there are no products or anything to export, and a port is like a two way street – there are products coming in and products going out.
I believe you can and should examine the most important situations that affect the island and put out a plan and probably a date when each can be and will be addressed. I believe Ralph made statements that he had acquired funds to fix the roads and there is nothing there. This to me is something that can and should be addressed in 2026.
I hope some funds will go to the ministry of agriculture to pay and promote a very good plan Saboto talked about. It will create jobs for the population.
The economy in Guyana has improved considerably because the people “eat what they grow and grow what they eat”. There is no reason for people to import chicken or other tin stuff when they can grow almost most of what they import. Then there is diabetes problem that can be addressed if people eat the food stuff that helps to decrease the sickness.
Congratulation on your victory and I hope you will listen to the peoples’ problem and fix them as time goes by.
You claim $3.1 Billion is a heavy task for the treasury yet you are in the process of giving a political bonus to the employees, make it make sense!!!!
Even though $3.1 billion is a heavy task for the treasury, the NDP is in the process of giving a bonus to the employees. The political injustice is over.
It is rather ironic that PM Friday has disclosed the public debt to be 3.1 billion. However, he advocated the cutting Vat by three percent ,having vat freed day and raise the paymente to recipients of welfare 50%, all simultaneously. How realistic is this if he has no intention to raising the public debt,?
The is an old adage that goes like this, “fools talk but not all fools are listening.”Friday has to tell us where the money is going to come from if he has no intention of raising the already unsustainable public debt. Come better than that Friday.
Wasn,’t he aware of the national debt when he made those financial commitments to the populace ?
Apparently , he is preparing the people for one or more unfulfilled promises.
Everyone singing his praises..they’re trying to convince themselves that he’s a great leader..not a good sign.
Having been in the job for little more than a month, the new Prime Minister is already bearing the brunt of criticism from political opponents, much of it negative.