but
does it have the mandate to do so?
 |
| President Yahya Jammeh |
The Office of the
President has issued a stern warning that very drastic action will be taken
against any individual or business found culpable of foreign currency hoarding
and speculating, as it launches operation no compromise on such practices with
immediate effect.
The
prompt intervention of the government is meant to reduce the selling rate of
dollar by foreign exchange dealers from D34 a dollar (the current market price)
to D28 a dollar, which is said to be the true value of a dollar to dalasi. As a first step to curb “this nefarious
activity” of foreign currency hoarding and speculating, the all powerful office
has imposed a moratorium with immediate effect on all shipping of the US Dollar
out of The Gambia with possible exemption for essential importation, which must
obtain prior clearance from the Office.
A financial analyst, who wished not to be name, said
the revised regulations for the licensing and operation of foreign exchange
bureaus states that every
bureau is free to quote its selling and buying rates.
Besides that, the analyst said, the legal power to regulate the
financial industry and the foreign exchange business is that of the Central
Bank of the Gambia and
not the Office of the President. To the analyst, Office of the President
should have simply waited for the Central Bank to do its works rather than
doing it for them.
The
primary objectives of the Central Bank include promoting and maintaining the
stability of the currency of The Gambia and as such it should formulate and
implement monetary policy aimed at achieving this objective.
“Besides, foreign exchange
business is like any other trade of buying and selling. The Gambia being a free market economy the
prices of things are determined by the interaction of demand and supply – the
forces of the market. So if demand is
higher than supply the price tends to go up and that is what we have seen
happening in the foreign exchange business,” the analyst said. “Of recent, the demand of foreign currencies
particularly the US dollar is up because this is the pilgrimage time and all
the pilgrims need some dollars as pocket money.
This has partially caused the demand of the dollar to go up and probably
the supply does not commensurate the demand causing the buying rate to
increase.”
