…Central Bank commits to finding reason for some dealers hiking prices

DAYS after reports surfaced about there being a shortage of United States Dollars (USD) on the local market, Governor General of the Bank of Guyana (BoG), Dr. Gobind Ganga, has committed to finding the reason for the shortage.

“I am going to look at the reason for the shortage and try to do some work on that,” said Dr. Ganga in an invited comment on Monday.
Dr. Ganga said the matter will be addressed after he meets with officials from the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States of America (USA). It was reported that the Private Sector Commission (PSC) had expressed concerns about the rising exchange rate of USD and its potential impact on the business community. A representative of the PSC had met with Dr. Ganga to discuss the situation last week.

“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,” said the PSC representative.

Although there were reports of a shortage, major city cambios have said that they are not affected by the shortage. A senior representative of the L. Mahabeer and Son Cambio said there is no shortage of USD and money is still flowing.

‘There was a little shortage of big notes because of what was going on with the street changers, but that did not last long,” said the representative. A representative of R. Sookraj Cambio also said that they have not recorded a shortage of US currency, but the demand has not been too high. The representative said persons, who need US currency, can visit the cambio and get it, not an unlimited amount, but the currency is available.

L. Mahabeer and Son Cambio was purchasing USD for $216 and selling for $219, while R. Sookraj was buying at $215 and selling at $218. Following reports from a section of the media that cambios were selling for as high as GYD$233 for US$1, the Central Bank had conducted an investigation and found that all cambios, with the exception of one, were selling below GYD$218. Dr. Ganga had said that persons can visit any commercial bank and get USD at a selling price of $215 to $216.

“You would not get an unlimited amount, but you would get,” the BoG governor said. According to reliable sources, although the banks and cambios have been selling at a stable price, persons on the streets have been selling at a higher rate. In light of this, Dr. Ganga had said the bank will continue to monitor the situation and implement appropriate measures where necessary. “We will also continue to monitor cambios to ensure that they abide by the three dollars spread and ensure that others are not exploiting the market,” he said.