Governor of the Bank of Guyana (BoG), Dr. Gobind Ganga,on Thursday reiterated that there is no shortage of foreign currency, in particular US dollars here.
Speaking at a press conference held at the Ministry of Finance, Main Street, Dr. Ganga noted that transactions have been on the increase from the start of 2017.
According to Dr. Ganga, in January, there have been purchases by bank cambios totaling US$82.7M and by February 18, purchases increased to US$158M.
As it relates to sales by bank cambios, the BoG Governor said there has been an increase from US$95.1M in January to US$164.6M on February 18.
“You would have seen significant increase over the month of January with respect of purchases of singles,” said Dr Ganga who noted that in the case of non-bank cambios, purchases totaling US$3.2M and sales totaling US$2.4M have been recorded for the month of January.
As of February 18, purchases stood at US$5.6M while sales were recorded at US$6.3M.
“With respect to spread, I know the non-bank cambios have been complaining about the spread but I am not too sure if they are saying it is too high or too low. In 2016, non-bank spread was $1.64, we have almost doubled that in moving it to $3,” said the governor.
Last month, the BoG had informed bank and non-bank cambio dealers, as well as money transfer agencies of the need for them to fix the spread between buying and selling rates to be no more than $3.
That instruction from the bank had caused much concern among some who operate the aforementioned businesses.
Additionally, many customers at commercial banks have complained that there appears to be a shortage of foreign currency in particular US dollars as they have been forced to wait days before being able to exchange large sums of money.
In a recent article published by another section of the media, businessmen complained about the imposed spread, noting that they have seen a reduction in business as a result of the imposition.
However, the governor finds it difficult to appreciate the argument posited by the businessmen.
“I can’t see how the spread would have affected the level of sale,” said Dr Ganga and noted that as of this week, there have been numerous market requests.
He said on Monday commitments stood at US$11.6M while on Tuesday at US$8.6M. The commercial banks have recorded as of Monday US$13.2M working balance while on Tuesday it stood at US$9.8M.
“The market is able to accommodate itself,” said the BoG Governor who noted that those who are requesting large amounts of foreign exchange would not be able to access same on the same day and noted that banks are ensuring that there is legitimate demand and are fulfilling that demand by trying to protect the country’s foreign reserve for use here.