Anniversary
This year will mark the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Dealers in Foreign Currency (Licensing) Act, and there is clear evidence that the market has undergone significant change over the intervening period. That legislation, which was passed under the Desmond Hoyte administration, created the opportunity for individuals and private companies that were not commercial banks to sell and purchase foreign currency under normal market conditions. The law required participants in the foreign currency market to register their businesses and obtain a licence to operate them. The principal purpose of the law was to eliminate the black market and increase the safety and efficiency with which foreign currency was bought and sold. As a consequence, the money traders or cambios were born. The cambios have come a long way and are very legitimate contributors to the Guyana economy by playing an important part in the market for foreign currency. The importance of cambios is not only in giving safe and orderly access to foreign currency; they help stabilize the exchange rate by removing the hidden hand of the black market.
Anti-Money Laundering Bill
Foreign currency transactions reflect the level of international trade and travel activities and influence the level of liquidity in the economy. A discussion of this market with updated information could have provided a chance also to assess the claims of adversity of the non-passage of the Anti-Money Laundering and the Countering of Financing of Terrorism Bill. That Bill’s fate appears to be more at the mercy of the unyielding stubbornness of the administration than anything else. Without tangible evidence, the administration has