Locals may be selling foreign currency to Trinidadians

Amid serious foreign currency constraints in Trinidad and Tobago, Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo believes that some locals are supplying the money to Trinidadians, a venture that is contributing to the spike in domestic demand.

Dr. Jagdeo addressed foreign currency concerns at his Thursday press conference at Freedom House, the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) headquarters.

At the engagement, he explained that domestic demand for foreign currency surged from about US$2 billion in 2020 to about US$9 billion in 2025. Though that increased demand has brought with it unique challenges for locals seeking to access foreign currency in Guyana, Jagdeo believes the Bank of Guyana has been able to regulate the market well, releasing funds when needed.

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“We have a big additional demand apart from the growth generally of the economy and the increase in consumer goods, intermediate good,s and capital goods.

“When it takes two weeks to get foreign currency here, you check what happens in another country. But we have enough resources to intervene in the market to satisfy the enhanced domestic demand,” Jagdeo said.

Even so, he highlighted some occurrences that the government has taken note of and will be probing more.

In the first instance, it is believed that companies submit inflated invoices that result in some payments being made for goods going to Trinidad as well.

Then, Jagdeo said it is believed that some local cambios and commercial banks are selling foreign currency to Trinidadians coming to Guyana. Locals, too, he said, may be purchasing foreign currency and reselling at slightly higher rates to Trinidadians.