The oil discovery and the fastest-growing economy

Guyana's growth chart changed in 2015, when ExxonMobil announced the first major discovery in the Stabroek offshore block, and again in December 2019, when production began. Oil output rose from zero to several hundred thousand barrels a day within a few years, and real GDP grew by more than 60 percent in 2022 alone, among the highest growth rates recorded anywhere. The Bank of Guyana and the government created a Natural Resource Fund in 2021, in which oil revenue is deposited and spending is limited by law, to avoid the 'resource curse' of large exchange-rate swings and inflation. Because the economy is small, the central bank has had to manage the rapid inflow of dollars and rising demand carefully, and much of the growth has been in the oil sector, which means non-oil GDP and incomes grow more slowly than the headline figures.