The Natural Resources Fund (NRF) is essentially an Extra Budgetary Fund, which was
established pursuant to Section 39 (1) of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act
2003 (hereinafter “the FMA Act). In accordance with the FMA Act, public moneys can be
held in three (3) places separately, namely: (1) the Consolidated Fund, (2) Deposit Funds, and
(3) Extra Budgetary Funds.
In reference to Mr. Christopher Ram’s letter in response to the Attorney General and Minister
of Legal Affairs, Mr. Anil Nandlall, SC, published in the Kaieteur News and Stabroek News
edition of January 3, 2024, Mr. Ram argued that the Attorney General misunderstands the
difference in the nature and functions of the Natural Resource Fund and the Consolidated
Fund. Unknowingly, it would appear that Mr. Lalbachan Christopher Ram exposed his in-depth
ignorance of the FMA Act, as demonstrated in his referenced epistle whereby he offered a
highly unintelligibly ignominious response to the learned Attorney General.
In my essay on the very subject, which was published in the January 2, 2024, edition of the
Guyana Chronicle responding to Mr. Christopher Ram’s aspersion on this matter, I
demonstrated how his contention is nothing but a storm in a teacup. Notwithstanding, I am
inclined to, in a more concise manner herein, point out to Mr. Ram and others, that firstly, the
Petroleum Agreement (2016) has nothing to do with the banking arrangements and/or the
deposit arrangements in relation to the “public moneys” earned from petroleum activities.
The FMA Act is the primary authority that governs the Consolidated Fund (CF). To this end,
Part I (1) of the FMA Act states that… “the regulation of the preparation and execution of
the annual budget; the receipt, control, and disbursement of public moneys; and such
other matters connected with or incidental to the transparent and efficient management
of the finances of Guyana”.
Part IV of the FMA Act Section 37 establishes the definition for the classification of public
moneys. Accordingly, Section 37 (1) states that: “All public moneys shall be classified as
either”-
a) Received moneys;
b) Moneys in the Consolidated Fund, including any moneys in the Contingencies Fund;
c) Moneys in an Extra-Budgetary Fund;
d) Drawn moneys; or
e) Moneys in a Deposit Fund.
Section 37 (2) of the FMA Act establishes that…” All public moneys shall be deemed to be
received moneys from the time they become public moneys until the time that they are credited
to the Consolidated Fund, an Extra Budgetary Fund, or a Deposit Fund”. Section 39 (1)
establishes that “An Extra-Budgetary Fund may be created by an Act, which legislation shall
set out –
a) The officials who will undertake the financial management of the Extra Budgetary Fund,
including the responsibilities and accountabilities of the officials charged with the
managing of the Extra Budgetary Fund;
b) The Banking arrangements that pertain to the Extra Budgetary Fund;
c) The source or sources of public moneys to be credited to the Extra Budgetary Fund;
d) The accounting rules and auditing requirements applicable to the Extra Budgetary Fund;
and
e) The financial reporting requirements applicable to the Extra Budgetary Fund, including
the reporting of financial performance both during and at the end of each fiscal year.
Section 37 (4) of the FMA Act establishes that…” Subject to any other law, resources of an
Extra Budgetary Fund may be administered either through its own accounts in selected
banks pre-approved by the Minister or through the payment and banking services of the
Consolidated Fund but shall be accounted for separate and apart from any other
resources.”
The NRF Act (2021) Section 15 (1) establishes that “Petroleum revenues shall be directly paid
into a bank account denominated in United States Dollars and held by the Bank as part of the
Fund”. Section 15 (2) goes onto define what petroleum revenue shall include, such as from
royalties, profit oil, petroleum income tax, additional profits, any signature bonus etc. Further,
Sections 16, 17 and 18 pursuant to the NRF Act establish the withdrawal rules of the Fund,
whereby its states that all withdrawals from the Fund shall be deposited into the
Consolidated Fund (Section 16 (2)).
As is evidently illustrated herein, the Natural Resources Fund having been established, viz-á-
viz, the Natural Resources Fund Act (2021), is essentially an Extra Budgetary Fund. In this
respect, Section 39 of the FMA Act provides for the creation of an Extra Budgetary Fund,
which may be created by way of an Act. The Act, in this case, is the Natural Resources Fund
Act 2021.
Therefore, the NRF is by no means overstated. More significantly, the Fund (NRF) is
administered, managed, and governed in accordance with two substantive pieces of
legislation―namely, the NRF Act and the FMA Act.