Even as the Guyana dollar has weakened to $223.70 against the United States dollar, President Irfaan Ali has acknowledged the unmet demand here for foreign currency but offered no solutions at a press conference on Monday.
At the end of June this year, the market mid-rate was $223.70 even as the official exchange rate remained fixed at $208.50, according to the 2026 Mid-Year Report which was released by the Guyana Government on Monday.
The market rate stood at $220.60 at the end of 2025, representing a depreciation of $3.10 over the first six months of this year.
The disclosure comes amid persistent complaints by businesses and individuals about difficulty sourcing United States currency at commercial banks and at the official rate.
At his press conference on Monday, President Ali disclosed that outstanding demand for foreign currency in the banking system was just over US$200 million.
He said commercial banks had reported that unmet requests were being carried forward from month to month because they could not satisfy all of the demand.
Ali placed projected demand from September 10 to the end of the year at US$1.575 billion: US$354 million for the remainder of September, US$385 million in October, US$400 million in November and US$436 million in December.
According to the President, commercial banks purchased US$2.279 billion in foreign currency between January and June this year, compared with US$1.798 billion during the corresponding period of 2025—an increase of 26.8%.
Bank of Guyana injections rose from US$642 million in the first half of last year to US$836 million this year.
Ali therefore put total foreign currency availability at US$3.115 billion for the first half, an increase of 27.7% over the US$2.440 billion available during the same period last year.
Notwithstanding the increased supply, Ali said: “The demand on the system is enormous.”
He cited credit-card settlements as one source of the increased demand. According to him, settlements rose from US$140 million in 2024 to US$430 million in 2025 and had already reached US$356 million this year.
Ali also said large companies could create two simultaneous calls on the market by repatriating profits while seeking foreign currency to finance plant, machinery and other expansion.
Asked whether leakages or the diversion of foreign currency to finance other operations were contributing to the shortage, he stopped short of drawing a conclusion.
“Whether there are misdirections or financing of other operations from foreign currency here in Guyana, that type of analysis is being looked at very, very closely,” he said.
Ali promised a more detailed breakdown of the companies and sectors driving demand, but none was provided at the press conference.
Kiskadee Watch recently reported former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran as noting that United States currency was being sold at around $237 at some cambios, compared with the official rate of $208.50. He said the shortage and depreciation required explanation, particularly given the volume of foreign currency generated by the oil and gas sector.
The Mid-Year Report does not explain why the increased supply has failed to meet demand or why the market rate has continued to move away from the official rate.
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