The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has upgraded Guyana's country risk classification from Category 5 to Category 4, effective 16 October 2026. The change appears in the OECD Secretariat's latest classifications for participants to the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits, released the day before. The Ministry of Finance says the move lowers the minimum premiums that export credit agencies charge, which reduces the cost of importing capital goods for public investment.

The OECD scale runs from 0 to 7, where 0 denotes negligible country credit risk and 7 the highest, and the category sets the minimum premium on officially supported export credits. Guyana now shares Category 4 with Brazil, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Paraguay and South Africa. The country moved from Category 6 to Category 5 in 2022, and it was one of only two countries upgraded in this round.

Dr Ashni Singh, the Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, called the decision a major signal of continued confidence in the economy. He said it reflects sound fiscal management, strong economic fundamentals and the country's creditworthiness. He thanked the OECD Secretariat and the representatives of member states who took part in the review.

The Ministry supplied figures for 2020 to 2025 in support of the upgrade. Real GDP expanded at an average annual rate of 37.3 per cent, driven mainly by the ramp-up of offshore crude oil production, while the non-oil economy grew by an average of 8.2 per cent a year. The Ministry attributed the growth rate to oil output and added that the non-oil figure shows activity beyond the sector. Headline inflation averaged 3.5 per cent, with government measures cushioning the effect of global supply and energy shocks between 2021 and 2023.

Debt indicators moved in the same direction. Public debt fell from 47.4 per cent of GDP at the end of 2020 to 28.6 per cent at the end of 2025, and external debt fell from 24.1 per cent to 10.8 per cent. Debt service as a share of government revenue declined from 8 per cent to 5 per cent, and external debt service amounted to 0.8 per cent of exports.

The Natural Resource Fund has also grown. It closed 2025 with US$3.3 billion, a sum larger than the entire stock of external debt, and reached about US$5.5 billion by the end of September 2026.

The Ministry also pointed to the International Monetary Fund's 2026 Article IV consultation. The Fund said Guyana's strong growth continues to rest on prudent macroeconomic policies, and it noted the country's diversification, resilience and sustainability. It also noted rapid accumulation in the Natural Resource Fund and one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios in the Western Hemisphere.

The practical effect is most direct for imports bought through export credit agencies. Because the classification sets the minimum premium those agencies charge, a better rating lowers the financing cost of capital goods that Guyana buys for public investment. The Ministry did not give a figure for the saving. It said the reclassification also serves as a signal to international lenders and development partners when they decide what to charge the government to borrow, and it expects better access to affordable financing as a result.

The Ministry said borrowing policy will not change. New financing will be directed to projects with clear economic returns, the cheapest sources will be used first, and total debt will be kept well within prudent limits. Dr Singh has linked the upgrade to the discipline that produced the lower debt ratios, and the government says it intends to keep to that approach. The next test will come when agencies apply the new minimum premiums to specific public investment purchases, which will show how much the change saves in practice.

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