The Guyana Government, through the Finance Ministry, will meet with all stakeholders on Monday to discuss the availability of foreign currency on the market and other related concerns.
President Dr Irfaan Ali told a media conference on Saturday that he has been in contact with the private sector and businesses across the country since one of the main issues in the public domain is the foreign exchange market.
“I’ve seen a lot of debate in relation to the foreign exchange rate and availability of foreign currency. It is important for us to understand that the foreign exchange market and the rate on the foreign exchange market is no longer determined by the Government but to a large extent, by market forces or demand and supply,” he underlined.
A statistical review was done and based on numbers provided by the Bank of Guyana, Ali positioned that Guyana has sufficient foreign currency for existing demands and this issue is heavily surveilled.
“When I reviewed the statistics from the Bank of Guyana and cambios, and listening to the Governor of the Central Bank and the technical team, they’re of the opinion based on the data that they have sufficient foreign currency to satisfy the existing demand and there is continuous surveillance of this. There are daily reporting mechanisms on the clearing of the market by the central bank.”
Notwithstanding, Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh will be convening a meeting on Monday with the stakeholders to examine the matter.
President Ali told media operatives, “I have instructed the Minister of Finance to convene a stakeholder meeting on Monday with the private sector, Central Bank, all the commercial banks and other key stakeholders to discuss this issue in a holistic manner; and to bring to me a report based on those consultations so that we can further examine this matter.”
This move comes as Trinidad and Tobago is currently suffering from a shortage of foreign currency.
However, on Thursday, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo during a press conference noted that Trinidad stands to benefit from Guyana’s importation of their goods given the current circumstances.
“Since we are a big importer of Trinidadian goods, that should serve them better because if we import their goods then they will earn. The payments are done in US dollars. If it was the other way around, we would probably have difficulties in our exporters getting paid here.”
The Vice President indicated that he was approached by a few local companies since Trinidadian entities offered to pay for their goods in Trinidadian dollars.
“They didn’t want to be stuck with this currency,” Jagdeo contended.
Last month, the Vice President had highlighted a trend where businesses from the Twin Island republic were procuring their goods in Guyana and shipping them to Trinidad, thereby utilising Guyana’s foreign currency for payments. While it was not illegal, he had drawn focus on the need to protect the country’s interests.
In the first quarter of 2023, the local private sector and the Bank of Guyana (BoG) got into a public debate over the availability of foreign currency, United States dollars in particular. During that time, there had been conflicting reports from both sides on this issue after several companies and businessmen complained about a shortage of US dollars in Guyana.
While the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) was claiming a shortage of foreign currency, this was dismissed by the Governor of the Bank of Guyana, Dr Gobind Ganga, who contended that there was enough money in the local market.
The BoG had noted that there was enough to cover the cash flow needs of transactions arising from businesses in Guyana but Dr Ganga had previously indicated that some banks could be “hoarding” their foreign currency which could have been the cause for the apparent “shortage”.
