Dear Editor,
Very few items now require an import licence, and there is no shortage of foreign currency or restrictions in making remittances.
Before, you had to apply for an import licence for everything at the Ministry of Trade and your applications took a long time to process. Afterwards, they had to be taken to the Bank of Guyana and several other agencies, such as the External Trade Bureau and Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation for their approval. It was even necessary, at times, to attach an extra sheet of paper to your licence to accommodate all of the rubber stamps.
Foreign currency was so scarce that you had to ask your supplier to split up the payment for each shipment, drawing several drafts – at sight, 30 days, 60 days and so on. For each of the drafts, you had to prepare a separate application, (EC 3 forms) to the Bank of Guyana for currency, when and if available. In the meantime, you deposited the equivalent Guyanese currency at your commercial bank, getting no interest.
Every time you wanted to leave the country, you had to get a document from the Inland Revenue Department, stating that you were tax compliant, and you could only leave with $15.00, unless you were granted foreign currency by the Bank of Guyana. You can imagine the amount of fraud, bribery and corruption this led to, plus massive tax evasion.
Yours faithfully,
John Da Silva
