Guyana - Head of Government

HE Mr Bharrat Jagdeo was elected to his second term in office as President of Guyana following the victory of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) in the August 2006 general election. He was first elected as president in the March 2001 election. Mr Jagdeo was earlier appointed president in August 1999 following the resignation of Janet Jagan due to ill health.

Mr Jagdeo is currently Chairperson of the Caribbean Community. He served as Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2005 to 2006. Earlier, he held the post of Guyana’s Governor to the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and Caribbean Development Bank, and was Chairperson of the Caribbean Group of Governors to the Inter-American Development Bank.

In 1995, Mr Jagdeo was made Senior Minister of Finance and also served as Director of the National Bank of Industry and Commerce. He was Junior Minister of Finance from 1993 to 1995, and served as a Member of the PPP Central and Executive Committees. Before that, he was Special Adviser to the Minister of Finance in 1992.

In 1990, Mr Jagdeo worked as an economist at the State Planning Secretariat. He became a member of the PPP in 1980 and served in leadership positions on district and regional committees. Mr Jagdeo’s entry into politics began at age 13 when he joined the youth arm of the PPP in 1977.

Mr Jagdeo has a Master’s degree in Economics from the People’s Friendship University in Moscow, Russia.