“Wealth Of This Country Is Not Reaching The Man On The Street” — Campbell Slams Govt
By Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News |
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — While the Ministry of Finance’s newly published 2026 Mid-Year Report projects that national petroleum earnings will surge to nearly US$6.5 billion by the close of the year, the political opposition is warning that headline oil figures are masking a worsening cost-of-living crisis on the ground.
Leading the critique, Parliamentary Lead for A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Dr. Terrence Campbell, argued that despite macroeconomic growth figures and expanding offshore lifts, the administration has failed to convert state wealth into tangible economic relief for vulnerable Guyanese struggling with double-digit food inflation and stagnant wages.
The Mid-Year Projection: A 136.8% Inflow Surge
According to official figures in the 2026 Mid-Year Report, projected petroleum inflows have expanded dramatically compared to initial national budget targets:
- Petroleum Deposits Projection: Total annual petroleum deposits are now projected to reach US$6.4976 billion, representing a 136.8 percent increase over the baseline forecast prepared for Budget 2026.
- Profit Oil and Royalties Breakdown: The government expects to earn US$5.97 billion from the sale of its entitlement of profit-oil lifts and US$508.1 million in gross royalty payments from offshore operations.
- Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Outflows: Total planned withdrawals from the sovereign wealth fund to finance central government capital projects are projected at US$2.3743 billion for the fiscal year.
- First-Half Lifting Ledger: During the first six months of 2026, 162 crude oil lifts were completed across the Stabroek Block. This included 21 government profit-oil lifts across four operating floating production, storage, and offloading vessels (FPSOs)—the Liza Destiny, Liza Unity, Prosperity, and One Guyana.
- H1 Financial Performance: Between January and June, the state collected US$1.7786 billion in profit-oil receipts and US$218.4 million in royalties. Following statutory withdrawals of US$1.02 billion, the Natural Resource Fund balance closed at US$4.2942 billion at the end of June, having earned US$66.9 million in deposit interest.
‘The Disconnect on the Street’: Dr. Campbell Flags Growth vs. Reality
Addressing the figures during an APNU press briefing, Dr. Campbell emphasized that while crude petroleum generated 92.9 percent of the country’s merchandise export earnings and drove real gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 33.3 percent in the first half of 2026, those indicators have not improved the daily lives of ordinary citizens.
“One of the things that troubles us on the APNU side is that we see that the economy grew by 33.3% in the first half of the year, but it does not translate to the level of the woman or man on the street that they feel that they’re 33.3% richer,” Dr. Campbell stated. “There is a huge disconnect between the headline GDP growth, between the revenues that are flowing into our coffers, and the situation of the man on the street.”
Dr. Campbell noted that while theoretical GDP per capita figures for Guyana now approach US$33,000 per person—implying an abstract household income near US$3,000 per month—the reality for the vast majority of citizens is characterized by rising grocery bills, uncompetitive minimum wages, and eroded purchasing power.
“The biggest failure of this government is that the wealth of this country is not reaching the man on the street,” Dr. Campbell asserted. “True development lies in its human resources, which is not the priority of the Ali-led regime.”
Food Inflation and Agriculture Contraction
Joining the presentation, APNU economic spokespersons highlighted critical non-oil data points from the Mid-Year Report to demonstrate that basic living costs are continuing to rise:
- Rising Consumer Inflation: National consumer price inflation stood at 4.4 percent in the first half of 2026, but domestic food inflation reached 6.7 percent, disproportionately impacting low-wage households where food accounts for the bulk of disposable income.
- Non-Oil Deceleration: Non-oil economic growth decelerated from 14.0 percent in the first half of 2025 to 10.1 percent in the first half of 2026, with manufacturing slowing to 3.0 percent.
- Contraction in Agriculture: The combined agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector contracted by 0.5 percent, driven by steep drops in domestic produce: other crops fell 6.4 percent, cole crops plummeted 19.1 percent, spices declined 17.7 percent, beans and cereals dropped 5.7 percent, and fresh vegetables declined 4.2 percent.
- Agricultural Credit Squeeze: Despite an overall 11.5 percent expansion in total private sector credit, outstanding loans to the agricultural sector declined by 3.1 percent between December 2025 and June 2026, leaving local farmers under-capitalized against adverse weather and market shifts.
The APNU Economic Proposal: Direct Relief and Long-Term Savings
Dr. Campbell endorsed recent civil society recommendations—including proposals put forward by chartered accountant and attorney Christopher Ram—suggesting that the administration distribute supplementary direct cash grants to citizens given that petroleum inflows have more than doubled earlier expectations.
However, the opposition maintained that ad-hoc handouts alone cannot substitute for structured macroeconomic protection. APNU called on the government to adopt a multi-pronged relief policy:
- Structured Cash Transfers: Transitioning from unpredictable cash grants to regular, predictable income supplements for low-income households.
- Wage & Tax Adjustments: Raising the public sector minimum wage to $200,000, adjusting personal income tax thresholds to $400,000, and negotiating multi-year wage agreements with public service unions.
- Essential Cost Subsidies: Introducing direct cost-of-living subsidies on domestic electricity, water, cooking gas, and public commuter transportation.
- Intergenerational Savings: Allocating a fixed proportion of the windfall petroleum deposits into diversified sovereign equity investments abroad to build resilience against global economic shocks, rather than using oil funds solely to underwrite expanding public debt and infrastructure overruns.
