President Dr. Irfaan Ali announced several new policies expected to help local authorities and the commercial banks better monitor the flow and use of foreign currency in Guyana.
The new measures— nine in total— were announced during the President’s meeting with several stakeholders of the financial sector, including the Governor of the Bank of Guyana (BoG) Dr Gobin Ganga, the Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Godfrey Statia, and representatives of the various commercial banks operating in Guyana.
So what are the nine measures?
1.) Any request for foreign exchange by any customer to commercial banks for the importation of goods to Guyana would require every customer to provide the commercial bank with a copy of the commercial invoice on the basis of which the commercial bank may release the foreign exchange to the said customer. The President said such a system already exists, but there are instances of over- and under-invoicing that must be dealt with.
2.) Any customer that submits a request for foreign exchange, upon the arrival of the goods in Guyana, will have to submit a copy of the invoice and Bill of Laden to GRA. The documents must also be submitted to the commercial bank for verification. This allows the stakeholders to verify that the goods were purchased and that those goods were brought to Guyana and not taken to any other destination
3.) If a customer fails to submit the certified copy of the invoice, the Bill of Laden, and a GRA compliance to the commercial bank, then the commercial bank shall not release the request for further foreign exchange
4.) The commercial banks will submit copies of the Bill of Laden and the commercial invoice to the Bank of Guyana for further verification. The President said this new window will be set up at the central bank, and it will be one allowing robust monitoring and clearing, so that these new policies do not cause any delays in business transactions
5.) Each commercial bank will have to ensure that personal credit cards are used strictly for personal transactions and not for the settling of business obligations, in light of a spike in credit card transactions
6.) In cases where there are related party transactions and inflated invoicing for capital flights, the entities found responsible will be penalised. Capital flight, in economics, refers to the rapid outflow of a large amount of money or assets from a country or region due to several reasons. President Ali, however, said this is “unfair to the system.”
7.) In cases where foreign exchange in the form of currency is being taken out of Guyana, the source of the currency will have to be declared. President Ali said this must be done whether the currency is purchased from the banks or “on the road”
8.) Entities registered in Guyana under the local content laws that are providing services for the oil and gas sector must maintain a local bank account in which the foreign currency earnings shall be remitted into the said bank account. President Ali said local content legislation will be amended to reflect this
9.) A single window post-clearing system will be established at the Central Bank, through which reconciliation and prior transactions between GRA, commercial banks, and the Central Bank will be completed before new requests are facilitated
President Ali said these measures would be implemented with immediate effect.
What are the numbers behind these moves?
Though the Guyanese Head of State said the country can satisfy the existing foreign currency demand, the massive surge has prompted authorities to look into the situation.
For example, US$332m was injected into the economy to meet foreign exchange demand in 2024. This has risen to US$1.2 billion in 2025, with an additional US$160m still pending.
Credit card payments, he explained, warrant further scrutiny.
In 2023, total credit card clearance stood at approximately US$91.3 million That figure surged to US$347.5 million in 2024, the President said, marking a nearly fourfold increase. This year, those payments are already at US$252 million, and the Christmas-time demand hasn’t started yet.
The President said his government will be examining whether personal credit cards are being used to clear business transactions.
So the new measures are expected to help Guyana control its foreign currency situation.
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