Still focussed on addressing the complaints by businesses about access to foreign exchange from the banking system, President Irfaan Ali says that his government is “not sitting” on the issue.
He assured business operators that government is working with the necessary people to address the reported shortage at some commercial banks.
Utilising data he had at hand, the President on Saturday stated that banks have been cooperating with the new requirement for daily reporting of foreign currency usage. He pointed out as of Friday, Republic Bank had the highest demand for foreign currency, with Visa debit and credit card transactions requiring 15 per cent of the total demand. The Head of State explained that debit and credit card transactions across the banking sector only demand five per cent of the foreign exchange.