Thousands of Guyana citizens home and abroad will receive a payout of around £370 each after the country announced it was distributing its “mind-boggling” oil wealth.

The grant of 100,000 Guyanese dollars will be available to any citizen of the South American country over the age of 18 with a valid passport or ID card. Guyanese citizens who normally live abroad will be eligible but must be in Guyana to collect the payment.

The payout was originally planned as a 200,000 Guyanese dollar grant for each household in the country, but was reframed after concerns that some citizens, including young people who had not yet set up their own household, would be left out.

Guyana’s president, Irfaan Ali, said: “Over the past week, Guyanese have engaged me and members of my cabinet, providing extremely favourable feedback on the announcement last Thursday … several persons have indicated the complications they foresee in the implementation and also the fear of being left out.” The per-person allocation, he added, “also addresses the concerns of young people who may not yet have a family but thought … that they will not benefit from”.

With an in-country population of 800,000 and a diaspora of some 400,000, the current arrangement is expected to result in a huge payout. But the country has been enjoying historic growth in itsp economy, which has tripled in size since it started crude oil extraction in late 2019.