The Private Sector Commission met on Monday April 10 with the Governor of the Bank of Guyana, Dr. Gobind Ganga, on the foreign exchange issue and related matters.
According to a statement issued by the PSC earlier today, the Governor assured the Commission that there is adequate supply of foreign exchange and provided statistical evidence to support this position.
Also, Dr. Ganga explained that the Guyana dollar should remain relatively stable due to the current low price of imports of petroleum and petroleum products which more than offset the decline in export receipts.
According to the PSC, the Governor opined that one should not pay more than G$215 to G$218 for a US dollar but conceded that that there is currently a relatively short waiting period for persons who wish to purchase foreign currency. He also cautioned that demand should be screened to establish the legitimacy of the requests.
The Governor revealed that the Bank is exploring reports that foreign goods, meant for another country, were being paid for using foreign currency sourced from Guyana. In addition, there were some flows of foreign currency to Suriname by businesses who collected US$ in payment for goods.
During the meeting, it was pointed out to the Governor that Guyana enjoyed a stable rate of exchange over several years and the present change is unnerving. Notwithstanding, the Governor pointed out that even with all the speculation in the market, the depreciation of the Guyana dollar was modest. The Commission promised to collaborate with the Central Bank in regular monitoring of the system to defend the currency against speculative threats.
