Gov’t rolls out new forex rules to stabilise currency market

A series of measures will be enforced in Guyana’s banking system as part of a strategic effort to protect the flow and availability of foreign currency.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali outlined the stipulations on Tuesday during a meeting with commercial bank executives, senior Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Bank of Guyana (BoG) officials, ministers, and other state agencies.

The growing demand for US dollars and the challenges in its availability have led to widespread complaints about delays in commercial transactions and their impact on business operations.

An interagency task force recently flagged unscrupulous practices and loopholes affecting the system. These issues, the President noted, had forced repeated government interventions, including the injection of large sums of foreign currency to stabilise supply.

The nine measures include requirements for local content registered companies to maintain local bank accounts for remitted foreign currencies, and for importers to share invoices and bills of lading with both the commercial banks and the GRA for verification. A final check will also involve the BoG.

Penalties will apply for inflated invoices designed to facilitate capital flight. Additionally, the use of personal credit cards for business transactions will be strictly prohibited. A single-window post-clearing system at the BoG will also be established to reconcile previous transactions before new foreign currency requests are approved.

“So that’s the SOP (standard operating procedure), this will take away all the accusations and bring parity to the system,” the President assured.

“We had already discussed many of these, but we are now going to set up the institutional mechanism through which we will pursue these. And this is in an effort to monitor and ensure we have enough foreign currency in the market.”

President Ali disclosed that US$332 million was injected into the system last year to meet demand. As of September 30, 2025, US$1.2 billion has already been placed into the banking system.