In wake of a tit for tat between the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and the Bank of Guyana over the availability of foreign currency on the local market, a meeting was held on Monday between officials of the Bank of Guyana, the Bankers Association and the Private Sector Commission.

The Private Sector Commission described the meeting as cordial and said it sought to examine ongoing challenges being faced by local companies in accessing foreign exchange.

According to a statement from the Private Sector Commission, the officials agreed that while there may be a shortage of foreign exchange at some banks, there was no overall shortage of foreign exchange in the country.

At the meeting, the Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Gobind Ganga confirmed that while there is an intra-bank market which enables banks
to share, the Central Bank must rely on moral persuasion in an effort to achieve a more efficient distribution of foreign currency availability, while emphasizing the fact that it is the responsibility of the Central Bank to ensure that the Government meets its macro-economic objectives.

Last week, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce lashed out at the Central Bank over the foreign currency issue, saying that it has lost confidence in the management of the Central Bank.

In a blistering response, the Central Bank reminded the private sector body that its existence is not to ensure that the members of the private sector are able access foreign exchange when they want, at the rate that they want.

The Central Bank also reminded the private sector body that the commercial banks are all members of the same private sector, and therefore, the concerns being raised by the Chamber should be raised with its own membership from the banking sector.

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