Georgetown: Central Bank governor, Dr. Gobind Ganga, met with Private Secretor Commissions (PSC) chairman, Captain Gerry Gouveia on Friday in the aftermath of the commission expressing public concerns about the rising exchange rate of the US dollars.
The two officials discussed the potential negative impact on the business community and the economy.
PSC said that the meeting was a constructive engagement.
“The PSC was briefed on the situation and the mitigating measures being taken by the Bank of Guyana.
The PSC was advised that the matter is mostly due to the unavailability of U.S dollar notes and not access to US currency to facilitate transactions such as payment for USD debit/credit cards and wire transfers.”
PSC said that the Bank, as regulator of the finance systems, assured that it is pursuing prudent measures to ensure exchange rate stability.
While the banks had US dollars to effect wire transfers, it was the cash that was short.
On the road, the cambios were providing, but one had to pay over $230.
A combination of factors has been fueling the situation.
Not only from Trinidad and Tobago and the US sapping up the cash, but lately, an increase in trade with Venezuela, which is struggling for foreign exchange, has nudged the rate further up.
In addition to the telephone companies, Suriname, Barbados and Venezuela have all been demanding cash.
The region has been facing a major foreign currency problem with their businesses and traders turning to Guyana for foreign currency.
A probe by the Bank of Guyana and other supervisory agencies into the shortage of United States (US) dollars at non-bank cambios has already raised some red flags, but Finance Minister Winston Jordan has declined to divulge details.
More than one year ago, the value of the local currency had nosedived to GYD$250 for US$1.00, largely due to Trinidadians who had been coming here to purchase American dollars to cope with their own foreign currency shortages. At that time, too, the Finance Ministry and Bank of Guyana had observed that licensed gold exporters had not been injecting their foreign earning back into the local economy.
The Bank of Guyana had then instructed cambios to ensure there is a maximum GYD$3.00 difference between the buying and selling rates for foreign currency, mainly US dollars.
However, people who conduct foreign currency transactions have noted that US$100 and US$50 bills are bought and sold at rates higher than those being posted up at a number of cambios.
You must be logged in to post a comment.