The Ministry of Finance yesterday said that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has upgraded Guyana’s country risk classification from 5 to 4, effective October 16, 2026.
This positive development it said in a release is reflected in the OECD’s most recent Country Risk Classifications of the Participants to the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits, released yesterday by the OECD Secretariat.
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance Dr. Ashni Singh, commenting on this development, said that it is a major signal of continued confidence in Guyana’s economy, and reflects growing global recognition of the government’s “sound fiscal management, our country’s strong economic fundamentals and, in particular, our country’s creditworthiness to the rest of the world”.
The release said that in the OECD’s Country Risk Classification framework, a scale of 0 to 7 is used to set minimum premium rates for officially supported export credits, with 0 denoting negligible country credit risk and 7 the highest. The release said that Guyana now sits in Category 4 alongside countries like The Bahamas, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Paraguay, and South Africa. This, it said, marks Guyana’s second upgrade in recent years, following a previous improvement from 6 to 5 in 2022. Among all classified countries, Guyana was one of only two countries upgraded in this round, making its achievement especially notable.
Singh welcomed the upgrade and the recognition of Guyana’s progress, and expressed his appreciation to the OECD Secretariat and to the capitals and representatives of OECD Member States, all of whom would have played important roles in helping to ensure the granting of this important upgrade to our country.
Over the last five years, the release stated that Guyana has built a record of renewed fiscal prudence and macroeconomic stability, and the progress is visible across every major indicator.
Guyana’s debt dynamics, it said, have also improved markedly as total public debt-to-GDP fell from 47.4 percent at the end of 2020 to 28.6 percent by the end of 2025, and external debt declined from 24.1 percent to 10.8 percent of GDP. Debt-service-to-revenue also fell accordingly, with the ratio of debt service to Government revenue falling from 8 percent in 2020 to 5 percent in 2025, and external debt service amounting to just 0.8 percent of exports. Guyana’s fiscal buffers have also grown stronger. The Natural Resource Fund closed 2025 with a balance of US$3.3 billion, exceeding the stock of external debt in full, and had risen to approximately US$5.5 billion by the end of September this year, the ministry said.
The significance of the upgrade lies in what it means for the cost and availability of external financing to the country, the release underscored.
“The OECD classification sets the minimum premium that export credit agencies charge on officially supported credits, so an improved rating directly lowers the cost of financing for the capital goods that Guyana imports for public investment purchased through export credit agencies. Beyond export credit, the reclassification is a signal that international lenders and development partners consider when deciding how much to charge the Government to borrow, leading to improved access to affordable financing for Guyana. Borrowing will continue to be guided by the same disciplined approach that has brought debt down to its current levels, with new financing directed to projects with clear economic returns, the cheapest available sources used first, and the overall debt kept well within prudent limits”, the release added.
The Government of Guyana, the release said, remains committed to managing Guyana’s public finances and debt with the same discipline that helped make this reclassification possible.
Growing concern has been raised by commentators about the rising debt being taken on by the Guyana government.
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