The Bank of Guyana has intervened to address the shortage of foreign currency in the local market, following a meeting with the commercial banks.
This was revealed by Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo during his weekly press conference.
He explained that the growing demand for foreign currency for importation and other transactions led to long wait time and a mismatch in demand and supply across the banking sector.
“We’ve seen a situation where we’ve had a short-term mismatch and we’ve asked the central bank…to make a major interjection in the foreign currency market and this morning most people said that the market is entirely cleared,” the VP said.
Jagdeo said the Government consistently monitors the banking sector and has the capacity to intervene at any given time.
Explaining why this move was not made earlier, he said “we had seen that overall, the market was clearing itself. Although there was a wait list for… number of importers, the market was clearing itself because on a daily basis, we watch the aggregate foreign currency available to the bank and their aggregate demand. We don’t want the rate to appreciate too much because that will lead to another set of problems, but we don’t want the rate to depreciate too much.”
According to the Vice President, the country’s import bill for 2024 totals over $5 billion to date. Guyana’s imports are mostly from the United States of America.
Today, the Central Bank listed the buying price USD at $207.98 and selling price at $210.45, Canadian dollars at $152 buying price and $152.76 selling, while EURO’s buying price is $225.89 and selling price at $228.79.
