By Stabroek News

Copyright stabroeknews

Dear Editor

As a business owner, there are always the known and associated unknowns along with the risks and rewards. At the end of the day, my opinion is that once a business is run on principle and ethics with strong focus on customer service and employee satisfaction, it is difficult to fail. A critical part of growing a business is raw material availability and in Guyana’s context, this often involves importation on non-available inputs. Whilst the ethical and principled DNA of our business allows us the trust and confidence of our suppliers, it is also a two way street in that there must be a balance when it comes to payment.

Over the past months, I am sure that the evidence is overwhelming in that the commercial banks are claiming that there is a shortage of ForEx (“Good morning, Your payment request has been received; however, we are unable to proceed with your requests due to the unavailability of USD currency. Payments will expedited as soon as funds become available. We do apologize for the inconvenience caused”) whilst the government claims no shortage and that it is more of a timing issue. Whilst I am inclined to believe the government on this one and it comes back to principles and ethics, I believe the commercial banks are investing the available USD into short term instruments outside of Guyana which only serves to benefit their shareholders and profit position. This wait for the maturity date is what delays the availability of the USD in Guyana, which the government knows to be in the system. Why there is no requirement to keep the required percentage of ForEx for immediate consumption in Guyana through regulation is a question for the policymakers and Central bank. The question to also ask is if it is the new normal and if it is perfectly in order for the banks to take one month to process a single ForEx transaction.

A simpler solution to the issue considering the government’s position that there is no shortage is as example follows: The banks exchange rate at time of placing remittance order is $216. For every day past 48 hours that the remittance is delayed, the rate is effectively reduced by 1% as a penalty to the bank for their unethical and mediocre behaviour. After all, don’t customers face penalties when late on mortgage and other financial transactions? The banks therefore make the choice of investing the USD in short term instruments whilst the domestic customers wait and benefit from the lower exchange rate or they can choose to do their job and satisfy the customer first.

FYI, I read today’s newsprint in Trinidad that Kamla Persaud-Bissesar is taking this fight to the banks and their cartel operatives to ensure a fair and transparent environment. This level of testicular fortitude is seriously lacking here in Guyana. I thank you again for the most valuable space in your daily.

(Name and address supplied)