Guyana was reclassified as a “high-income” country by the World Bank in its 2022 gross national income (GNI) index.
In the recently published GNI index, which covers the financial year 2024 (July 1, 2023- June 30, 2024), the World Bank explained Guyana is experiencing significant growth due to its oil and gas boom.
“The large increase in Guyana’s Atlas GNI per capita is driven by the increasing volume of oil and gas production which more than doubled in 2022. The nominal increase was further amplified by higher oil and gas prices, and despite strong increases in outflows of primary income abroad, Guyana’s nominal GNI jumped 86.2 per cent leading to a 60 per cent increase in Atlas GNI per capita,” the World Bank said.
Guyana was previously a middle-income country. A country is considered high-income, when its GNI is US$13,846 and over.
The upgrade means Guyana will face higher interest rates when borrowing from international financial institutions like the World Bank.
Guyana joins its Caribbean neighbours such as Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda and St Kitts and Nevis on the high-income countries list.