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The financial health of the Guyana Gold Board appears to be improving significantly with respect to the clearing of moneys owed to the Ministry of Finance.

In a recent interview with this newspaper, the Board’s General Manager, Eondrene Thompson said that it owed the Finance Ministry as much as USD 18B a few years ago, but that is now down to USD 3B, a sum she hopes will be cleared off by year end. Thompson said: “The financing for the Gold Board was set up in such a way that the Ministry of Finance would advance us funds and we would purchase gold from the miners, with the advances. When the gold is sold, the proceeds are given to the Consolidated Fund, thereby repaying the Ministry of Finance. Over the years, I think it was in 2012, the deficit was just over USD 8B and the Ministry of Finance took a decision that they would not be giving the Guyana Gold Board advances any longer. That was in 2012.”

The General Manager added: “However, Gold Board continued to buy gold and that meant we would have been sending the Consolidated Fund in overdraft…As at 2016, we owed the Fund just over USD 18B and in 2017, the Guyana Gold Board reduced that deficit to approximately $3B. Also, we had a long history from 2012 of a deficit in the balance sheet and we moved from a deficit to USD 651M in profit.” In 2015, the government had commissioned forensic auditors to probe the operations of the Guyana Gold Board. Among its findings was the fact that the Gold Board Act is silent on how permanent losses are to be dealt with. Responding to this matter, Thompson agreed that this is the case, but noted that no amendment has been made to the Act to address this issue.

(Kaieteur News)