On Friday, 18 September 2026, Guyana’s main opposition bloc A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) publicly called on the ruling People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC)-led administration to disclose full details surrounding its revised 2026 national economic growth projections, following the release of the Finance Ministry’s mid-year economic assessment.
In a prepared statement delivered by APNU’s parliamentary leader Dr. Terrence Campbell, the opposition emphasized that the significant downward adjustments to non-oil sector growth forecasts included in the updated report require rigorous public scrutiny of the core assumptions that underpinned the government’s original 2026 national budget.
The mid-year report cut the full-year 2026 non-oil sector growth projection from 10.8% to 10.2%, with far steeper reductions across key primary industries. The combined agriculture, forestry and fishing forecast was slashed from 7.6% growth to just 2.9%: other crop production projections fell from 9.8% to 2.1%, while sugar output growth was revised down from 67.9% to 18.1%. Manufacturing growth expectations were trimmed from 12.9% to 10.7%, and bauxite mining growth was cut in half from 19.3% to 10.2%. Dr. Campbell clarified that these adjustments are reduced growth forecasts, not cuts to government spending allocations for the sectors.
Notably, the mid-year report actually raised the overall 2026 gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection from 16.2% to 20.8%, driven by a faster-than-expected expansion in the country’s booming oil sector, which also pushed construction sector growth forecasts up from 25.4% to 27.6%. But Dr. Campbell argued that the government cannot use strong oil-fueled aggregate growth to mask underperformance in critical non-oil segments of the economy.
“Stronger oil-led growth must not obscure weaker expectations for important non-oil activities. Government owes Parliament and citizens an explanation of the missed assumptions, implementation constraints and corrective actions, with clear deadlines,” he stated in his address.
Dr. Campbell, a long-standing Guyanese urban business leader, pointed out that the national economy grew 33.3% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, but the petroleum, gas and related support services sector accounted for 78.9% of real GDP during the period – up from 74.4% in the first half of 2025. Crude oil alone generated 92.9% of Guyana’s total merchandise export earnings in the first six months of the year. He stressed that the growing concentration of the national economy in oil is a critical structural risk, noting that output and export gains do not automatically translate into higher incomes for households or additional stable revenue for government coffers.
The most alarming trend, he added, is that the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector actually contracted by 0.5% year-on-year in the first half of 2026. Output of other crops fell 6.4% overall, with cole crops (including broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and kale) dropping 19.1%, spices declining 17.7%, beans and cereals falling 5.7%, and vegetables down 4.2%. Even gains in sugar, rice, livestock, forestry and fishing were not enough to offset these declines to pull the combined sector into positive territory. Dr. Campbell framed the contraction as an urgent warning about national food production, not just a minor statistical anomaly.
The opposition leader pushed back on the mid-year report’s attribution of widespread crop losses to prolonged, above-average rainfall, noting the report also warns of upcoming heat stress from El Niño later in 2026. He argued that while adverse weather explains poor output, it does not excuse a lack of proactive preparedness by the government. “Weather is an explanation; it is not a substitute for preparedness. Government must show how its agricultural investments protect farms against both flooding and drought,” he said.
While the government’s report outlines planned interventions including drainage infrastructure upgrades, shade house development and farmer support programs, APNU is questioning whether these measures are sufficient in scale, timing and long-term maintenance. The opposition has formally called for fully funded, region-specific agricultural recovery plans that address critical gaps: reliable drainage and irrigation systems, expanded water storage capacity, improved agricultural extension services, accessible affordable credit for smallholder farmers, cold storage infrastructure, expanded agro-processing capacity and better market access for domestic producers. Dr. Campbell added that these plans should include public, measurable targets for production growth, farmer income increases and improved food affordability for all Guyanese households.