There have long been several calls by many in society to move from being a cash based society in Guyana but of the $215B in total Capital and Liabilities of the Bank of Guyana there is, as of February 10, last, some $35.6B in cash notes in circulation and some $642M in coins.This is according to the gazetted statement of assets and liabilities of the Bank of Guyana signed by the Governor.The cash-based nature of the economy had recently come in for criticism by one of Guyana’s leading Chartered Accountant, Christopher Ram, who said that it is contributing to the factors affecting the country’s growth.The factors he alluded to, included corruption,Billy Price Jersey, money laundering, tax evasion and unfair competition which is aided by the cash based nature of Guyana’s economy.Ram said that with a more plastic-based system there would be better trails of transactions, which could weed out some of the money laundering and corruption.He noted, too, that the relaxed nature of the exchange control laws also encourages the holding of cash in foreign currency, “a phenomenon which by its nature is impossible to measure…The law allows any amount of foreign currency to be taken out of the country merely on a declaration at the port of exit.”The cash based nature of Guyana’s economy had even caught the attention of the representative of the Inter American Development Bank, Marco Nicola, who is on record pointing out that Guyana is a cash economy.“The system of payment is based on cash, when there are so many other instruments…It is a matter of technology, I can hardly pay with my American credit card here…It’s a matter of credit information; it’s a matter of the bank taking responsibility for their clients.“We don’t have security, and that is why we are a cash economy.”Nicola also said that, in many instances, business can be conducted differently, but Guyanese have a ‘cash culture.’“I think a good balance between good regulation, risk management, and good bank supervision would be a good recipe for a more dynamic financial system,” Nicola contended.In recent times there have been moves by some Banks to encourage the use of credit and debit cards but there is still a large amount of currency still in circulation.
