GUYANA: US$3.1B in Foreign Currency, Yet US$200M Demand Goes Unmet

Guyana’s foreign-exchange figures are raising a harder question than the Government’s headline claim of increased supply: if US$3.115 billion in foreign currency moved through the financial system during the first six months of 2026, why are commercial banks still reporting more than US$200 million in unmet demand?

President Irfaan Ali presented the figures on September 19, saying foreign-currency availability jumped 27.7 per cent, from US$2.440 billion during January-June 2025 to US$3.115 billion during the same period this year. Commercial banks purchased US$2.279 billion, up from US$1.798 billion, while foreign-currency injections rose from US$642 million to US$836 million.

Those numbers establish that more dollars are entering the system. They do not, by themselves, explain why legitimate demand is still going unmet.