-$2.7bn in subsidy for rice farmers
-series of measures for Guyanese to be announced before end of 2025
Georgetown, Guyana (November, 5 2025) – His Excellency President Dr Irfaan Ali announced new supporting measures for rice farmers and fisherfolk, while he also gave a timeline for a series of initiatives geared to empower Guyanese.
During an interview earlier today on his way to Brazil for the 30th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the President disclosed that for the upcoming rice crop, the Government would invest more than $2.7 billion to support rice farmers.
“We will produce in this second crop, more than nine million bags of paddy, and at a minimum, I can say to you now, that we’re going to give, like we did in the first crop, another $300 per bag subsidy, that would be an injection of more than $2.7 billion to rice farmers.”
He reminded that farmers have been continuously supported, and that the Government will “examine the prevailing conditions and take the necessary steps to intervene” when necessary.
President Ali said that his Government will support the fishing industry through direct cash transfer and through other measures.
“We are going to continue that programme that we started…we are going to give $150,000 to every fisherfolk out there to help them as an incentive, a subsidy from the Government.”
He explained that these measures are part of a broader mechanism “supporting wealth creation, productivity and vulnerable groups”.
The President also signalled that before the end of 2025, he will announce a series of measures, not only looking at a cash grant, but at the total empowerment of every Guyanese.
“Whether you are someone living with disability, the elderly, children, women, small businesses, farmers, you name it, every category and of course, household. I’m going to announce a comprehensive slew of measures that would include of course, cash transfer to families before the end of the year, that would take us not only into the next year, but to the cycle of government for the next five years.”
He also urged citizens to prepare for the digital rollout of these transfers.
“We are digitising everything, I’m urging every Guyanese to open their bank account. So that this digital transfer would be easy, efficient and of course transparent. We are using this period to put the mechanism in place and finalising the system.”