Ramesh Gampat stands out as the first analyst to consolidate recent statistics on Guyana’s burgeoning oil economy. His work is essential reading for anyone engaged in public debate and policy regarding the dynamics of the local foreign exchange market, fiscal and public debt policies, and exchange rate management. Students and general readers will appreciate the accessible introduction to Exchange Rate Theory and the thorough examination of the local FX market, covering cambios as well as the inter-bank FX market.
The book’s central focus is on the net sale of foreign exchange to the local market by both bank and non-bank cambios, with an emphasis on the period from 2013 to the second quarter of 2023. Key observations include: banks were net buyers of foreign exchange for most of the review period, with notable exceptions in 2014, 2021, and 2022; monthly data provide a more useful reflection of market balance compared to annual frequencies; and the Bank of Guyana has sometimes exacerbated rather than mitigated demand and supply imbalances. Additionally, while some analyses have criticized the banking system for local FX issues, Gampat notes that commercial banks could only cover about one week’s worth of imports even if they depleted their liquid foreign assets, challenging the claim of badly behaved banks.
This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the intricacies of Guyana’s evolving economy and its impact on the foreign exchange market.
Dr. Collin Constantine
Girton College
University of Cambridge
About the author
Ramesh Gampat is an economist, who worked for about three decades with the United Nations Development Programme. He is the author of several books. The three most recent ones are Guyana’s Great Economic Downswing, 1977-1990. Socio-Economic Impact of Co-operative Socialism (2020); Essays. Guyana: Economics, Politics and Demography (2022); and Domination By Region 4. Domestic Colonialism and Regionalization in Guyana (2023). Dr. Gampat has also published academic papers on inflation, poverty, international trade, human development, gender and corruption.
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