–without seeking requisite authorisation

ATTORNEY-GENERAL and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, S.C., on Tuesday evening made it clear that businesses in Guyana are not permitted to demand payment in US Dollars only without relevant permission.

Nandlall made those remarks during the broadcast of his weekly show, Issues in the News, during which he addressed the issue of businesses in the country demanding payment for services to be made only in US Dollars.

He related that under Guyana’s laws, the Guyanese Dollar remains the valid legal tender for transactions being done in the country.

“However, the law permits that persons can trade, if they wish in either Guyanese Dollars or United States Dollars, converted at a rate agreed upon by the parties; normally the parties would refer to a prevailing cambio rate at a commercial bank or at a particular licensed cambio,” he said.

Nandlall related that it is permissible for one to transact business either in Guyanese Dollars or its equivalent in US Dollars.

What is not permitted, he said, is the insistence on the exclusive use of foreign currency to conduct a transaction in Guyana without the permission of the Minister of Finance.

Nandlall added: “One must get the permission of the Minister of Finance to deal exclusively in foreign currency. To insist that transactions must be done exclusively in foreign currency without an approval from the Minister of Finance would be unlawful.”