Guyana’s economic recovery offers a lesson

As Britain prepares to make developing-country debt relief a priority of its 2027 G20 presidency, Guyana’s transformation from one of the world’s most heavily indebted nations into a rapidly growing economy offers a striking reminder of what international debt cancellation can achieve.

On October 14, 2026, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband called for renewed global action on sovereign debt, invoking the Make Poverty History campaign that helped secure landmark agreements under the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Speaking during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, Miliband highlighted the importance of international cooperation in tackling debt burdens that constrain economic development.

His planned visit to Guyana alongside King Charles III would provide a connection to that history.In May 1998, Guyana’s then finance minister, Bharrat Jagdeo, travelled to Birmingham for the G8 summit, where approximately 70,000 Jubilee 2000 campaigners formed a human chain demanding debt cancellation for the world’s poorest countries.

Jagdeo led a delegation, accompanied by Jubilee 2000 director Ann Pettifor, that met Prime Minister Tony Blair to press the case for relief.

At the time, Guyana was struggling with the consequences of a severe debt crisis. Public debt had exceeded 460 per cent of gross domestic product in the early 1990s, diverting scarce government resources from education, healthcare and infrastructure.

After becoming finance minister in 1995, Jagdeo helped negotiate Guyana’s participation in the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative.When the IMF and World Bank approved the country’s first debt-relief package in December 1997, he said it would “enhance our capacity to reduce poverty, improve the access to and quality of education and health and accelerate civil service reforms.”

“This is good news for all Guyanese,” he added.

The international campaign gained momentum over the following years, culminating in the 2005 Make Poverty History movement, supported by figures including Nelson Mandela, Bob Geldof and Bono, alongside churches, development organisations and millions of campaigners.By then Guyana’s president, Jagdeo remained involved in negotiations.

Days before the Gleneagles G8 summit, he met Chancellor Gordon Brown and Development Minister Gareth Thomas to discuss debt relief.

Shriti Vadera, an adviser to Brown who also worked with Miliband, was involved.

At Gleneagles, world leaders endorsed a landmark agreement initially expected to cancel approximately $40 billion in debt for 18 qualifying countries, including Guyana.

The IMF subsequently approved approximately $65 million in additional relief for Guyana in December 2005, while further cancellation followed through the Inter-American Development Bank in 2007.

According to the World Bank, the HIPC initiative and the related Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative have since delivered more than $100 billion in debt relief to 37 countries, including 31 in Africa.

For Guyana, the results were significant. By 2007, public debt had fallen to approximately 60 per cent of GDP. In 2013, the IMF reported seven consecutive years of economic growth, averaging about 4 per cent annually.

These gains preceded the discovery of Guyana’s vast offshore oil reserves.Jagdeo also pioneered the Low Carbon Development Strategy in 2009, securing a partnership with Norway that generated approximately $227 million for forest conservation and development.

Today, under President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Guyana is using petroleum revenues to finance infrastructure and economic diversification. Its non-oil economy expanded by 12.3 per cent in 2023, 13.1 per cent in 2024 and 14.3 per cent in 2025, according to government figures.

Although oil has transformed the country’s economic prospects, Guyana’s recovery from debt distress and its record of sustained growth began long before petroleum production.

The challenge facing Miliband is different from that of the Jubilee 2000 era.

Nevertheless, the original campaign demonstrated how political leadership, public mobilisation and international cooperation could deliver substantial financial relief.

As Britain looks towards its G20 presidency, Guyana’s experience offers a compelling example of how reducing unsustainable debt can help create the conditions for long-term economic recovery — and why the campaign that began nearly three decades ago remains relevant today.

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