As of Friday, May 1, 2026, Guyana’s main opposition bloc has laid out a series of policy demands targeting the country’s rapidly escalating cost of living, calling on the ruling government to leverage unexpected revenue windfalls from global commodity price shocks triggered by the Israel-U.S. conflict with Iran to deliver immediate relief to households.
Dr. Terrence Campbell, parliamentary leader of the opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), laid out his core proposal in a press briefing Friday: temporarily amend the country’s Natural Resources Fund (NRF) Act to unlock surplus oil revenues for immediate retail fuel subsidies. The geopolitical conflict has sent global crude prices soaring far beyond the projections that underpinned Guyana’s 2026 national budget, generating unanticipated extra income for the oil-producing South American nation.
Currently, the NRF Act mandates that all current-year resource revenues are transferred to the country’s consolidated fund only the following fiscal year, a rule that blocks immediate access to the new windfall. Campbell argues that cutting fuel costs at the pump is the most effective root-level intervention to slow broader inflation, since higher transport and energy costs filter through to raise prices for nearly all goods and services across the economy.
“Easing pressure at the source, right at the pump, is the simplest and most direct way to deliver relief to all Guyanese,” Campbell told reporters.
Data underscores the scale of recent price increases: just two months before the outbreak of the Israel-U.S.-Iran conflict, state-owned Guyana Oil Company sold gasoline for 170 Guyanese dollars (GY$) per litre. As of Friday, that price has jumped to GY$208 per litre. Diesel prices have seen even steeper growth, surging from GY$168 per litre pre-conflict to a range of GY$210 to GY$268 currently. Global benchmark Brent crude traded at US$108.35 per barrel on Friday, nearly $50 above the US$59 per barrel projection included in the 2026 national budget. Campbell added that Guyana is also collecting elevated tax and royalty revenues from gold, which was trading at US$4,611.35 per ounce on Friday, far above typical forecast levels.
Campbell also criticized the government’s existing GY$3 billion cash support package for rice farmers, who have raised alarms over spiking costs for fertilizer, fuel, transportation and irrigation water. Dismissing the targeted payout as insufficient relief, he noted “man shall not live by rice alone,” arguing that broad-based fuel relief would benefit all sectors of the economy, not just agriculture. “A one-off payout for rice farmers won’t deliver the broad relief we need when prices are rising across every category. Most inflation starts at the pump, so that’s where relief needs to start,” he explained.
In addition to fuel subsidies, Campbell called on the administration to roll out an additional GY$200,000 cash grant for households, labeling the current government “uncaring” for its failure to address widespread financial strain.
APNU Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed echoed the calls for broader intervention, drawing a parallel to a recent regulatory move by the country’s central bank. After Central Bank Governor Dr. Gobind Ganga mandated that commercial banks cap the spread between U.S. dollar buying and selling rates at three percentage points, Mohamed argued the government could use similar regulatory power to impose price caps on essential consumer goods to rein in cost of living increases.
“We need to establish price controls, and even government-managed retail outlets to cap prices for staple food items. Without intervention, prices will only climb higher,” Mohamed told reporters ahead of the annual May Day parade, which was set to kick off from Georgetown’s Middle and Carmichael Streets. He also called on national trade unions to take a more aggressive stance in advocating for living wages for public sector employees.
Separately, Dawchand Nagasar, General Secretary of the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees, confirmed he held talks with the Minister of Labour last week to discuss updating minimum wage levels in both the public and private sectors to reflect current inflation.