Govt. to write off $5B student loan debt by year-end
– Jagdeo urges eligible persons to apply
Kaieteur News – During his press conference on Thursday, Vice President (VP) Bharrat Jagdeo announced that the government is expected to write off approximately $5 billion in student loan debt owed to the University of Guyana (UG) by the end of 2024.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo
It was recently reported that the government, through the Ministry of Finance, has written off approximately $203.7 million in student debt owed. This was highlighted by the Ministry of Finance’s 2024 mid-year report, which revealed that this latest development has benefitted around 346 persons to date.
“So if you divide the $203 million by 346 you will get about $588,000, on average per each person,” Jagdeo said.
Within the second half of the year, an additional 2,900 persons is expected to benefit from this initiative. The Vice President said, “If we use the same average that will be about $5 billion alone this year and if more people come in we will write all of it off in a single year, the full $18 billion once they are eligible. So I want to urge the students, who have outstanding debt to just apply for the write off so that we can proceed with doing so.”
The Department of Public Information (DPI) recently reported that free tertiary education by 2025 is an essential element of the PPP/C 2020-2025 manifesto plans. To achieve this, President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali said the government will implement a phased approach, first targeting individuals who hold university loans.
In 2024, during the reading of the national 2024 budget, the Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance and Public Service, Dr. Ashni Singh announced phase one of the initiative, benefitting some 13,000 Guyanese.
