Minister Swaratsingh: No Assessment Of Foreign Exchange Demand From Foreign Franchises

In response to a question in the Senate on the Government’s assessment of cumulative annual foreign exchange demand, Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Dr Kennedy Swaratsingh, stated that the Central Bank continuously monitors foreign exchange sales through authorised dealers.

He said, however, no assessment has been done specifically on the foreign exchange demand from foreign franchise operations.

“An assessment of foreign exchange demand is specifically attributable to foreign franchise operations has not been undertaken. Mr President, multiple franchise operations are often owned by a single holding company through which various foreign exchange transactions are processed, not just the franchise payments. As a result, isolating foreign exchange demand arising from individual franchise operations may not be feasible using currently available data.”