Guyana At 60: The Oil Is Flowing. So Why Are Guyanese Buying Tennis Rolls On Credit?

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Tues. May 26, 2026: Guyana turned 60 today; 60 years since its independence from Britain in 1966.

At a flag-raising ceremony for the nation’s 60th Independence Anniversary at Fort Island along the Essequibo River, President Irfaan Ali declared that Guyana is now “one of the world’s fastest-growing economies worth more than US$75 billion.”

“We are today, the fastest growing economy on earth,” he was quoted as saying. “Not in this hemisphere, not in the Caribbean – but on an entire planet.”

On paper, the numbers are staggering. The International Monetary Fund has confirmed that Guyana led the world with an average real GDP growth of 47 percent per year between 2022 and 2024, recording double-digit growth for six consecutive years. Oil production from the offshore Stabroek Block now surpasses 915,000 barrels per day, making Guyana South America’s third-largest oil producer. The national budget crossed one trillion Guyanese dollars for the first time in 2024. Per capita income, once recorded at around $340, is projected to approach $38,000 by 2028.

Impressive numbers. But numbers, as any Guyanese on the ground will tell you, don’t buy tennis rolls.

The Other Guyana

This week, ahead of the pomp and ceremony surrounding the 60th, the Guyana Kaieteur News reported something that should stop everyone mid-applause: the cost of living in Guyana – the globally promoted oil-rich capital of the Caribbean – has become so high that many Guyanese are now buying single tennis rolls, butter flaps, and small pastries on credit just to survive the week.

Let that sink in. The fastest-growing economy on earth. And its people are eating on credit.

According to Numbeo data, the estimated monthly costs for a family of four in Guyana run approximately GY$708,000 – roughly US$2,500 – excluding rent. The average gross salary ranges from G$100,000 to G$174,000 per month – between $480 and $835 USD. The median individual income is between G$50,000 and G$60,000 – or between $240 and $290 USD – meaning half of the country’s workforce earns less than this.

A standard senior citizen receives a non-contributory Old Age Pension of G$46,000 per month – approximately $220 USD. Compare that to the Numbeo cost-of-living estimate, and you see the disparity in stark relief.

As the war in Iran sends gas prices soaring, Guyanese are being forced to pay more for kerosene to cook and for transportation. Kerosene – the cheapest fuel – now runs $3.17 to $3.40 USD per gallon. Cooking gas costs roughly $22 to $27 USD. A meal at an inexpensive restaurant costs approximately $12 USD. A gallon of milk runs about $13. A dozen eggs, $4.50.

Who Is Actually Benefiting?

The salary data tells the real story. According to Paylab’s Guyana Salary Survey:

Expat and oil and gas engineers earn $3,000 to $6,000+ per month

Senior finance and IT managers earn $1,500 to $2,500+

Public school teachers and nurses earn $500 to $750

Administrative assistants earn $350 to $500

Retail, security, and service workers earn $290 to $350

The hospitals the government has built are understaffed and lack basic drugs in their pharmacies, forcing nationals to pay far more at private pharmacies. The many roads and bridges President Ali cited as “the clearest evidence” of transformation are real. But roads do not pay rent. Bridges do not fill a prescription.

The data clearly shows who is benefiting from the wealth the President is celebrating. Expats and foreign workers; while nationals struggle.

Corruption And The Brain Drain

On the Corruption Perceptions Index, Transparency International gives Guyana a score of 40 as of 2025 – ranking it 84th out of 182 countries.

More telling is this: in 2026, Guyanese citizens are still leaving the country despite the nation possessing one of the world’s fastest-growing GDPs. The UN’s Human Flight Index places Guyana at roughly 8.2 out of 10 – making it a leading country for human capital loss in South America, well ahead of Venezuela at 6.5 and Suriname at 5.7.

The 2026 Democracy and Development Report from the United Nations Development Programme ranks Guyana 12th globally for brain drain. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the country sits fourth – behind only Haiti, Jamaica, and one other regional nation. Nearly 90 percent of Guyanese with tertiary education eventually migrate, the report finds, with North America the most common destination. Earlier World Bank data has long held that about 39 percent of Guyanese citizens already live abroad.

Two stories are running simultaneously. One is a sovereign balance sheet that most finance ministries in the region would trade theirs for. The other is a quiet, steady exit by the people who would normally be running its hospitals, classrooms, regulatory agencies, and ministries.

The Promise Still Unkept

Many Guyanese are still awaiting the $100,000 grant the government promised since last December. That is not a footnote. That is a policy failure in the middle of an oil boom. I left Guyana in 1996, nearly 30 years ago. I have watched from the United States. Guyana has transformed from one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere to the fastest-growing economy on earth. I wanted nothing more than to celebrate that transformation today. But I cannot celebrate numbers when many are still suffering.

Guyana at 60 should be a country where every national born and living there is building real, generational wealth from the oil beneath its waters. Instead, the Natural Resource Fund sits above US$3.1 billion while Guyanese buy tennis rolls on credit.

The PPP/Civic government must move beyond rhetoric and ribbon-cuttings. Roads and bridges are necessary. They are not sufficient. Sixty years of independence demands more than infrastructure. It demands that the ordinary Guyanese – the teacher, the nurse, the security guard, the senior citizen living on $220 a month – feel this oil wealth in their daily lives. Not in presidential speeches. Not in budget headlines. In their pockets.

No one in Guyana should be struggling to buy a packet of tennis rolls in an oil-rich nation. Not at 60. Not ever. Guyana at 60 should be wealthy for all – not just for some.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Felicia J. Persaud is a Guyana-born media entrepreneur, founder of News Americas Now, Hard Beat Communications, Invest Caribbean, CaribPR Wire, and AI Capital Exchange. She has lived in the United States since 1996.