The problem is, however, that there are only 12 authorised foreign-exchange dealers in the market. More buyers than sellers have resulted in an imbalance in supply and demand, so problems have been cropping up with increasing frequency in recent years.
Quick, firm action is needed to resolve the US-dollar supply problem which has had local manufacturers, other businesses and private citizens in a tailspin for the better part of the year.So far, injections totalling US$610 million into the local foreign exchange system by the Central Bank have failed to ease the situation and Finance Minister Larry Howai's repeated assurances about the health of the economy have not dispelled fears of a possible currency crisis.
In response to repeated complaints from business groups about problems in obtaining adequate amounts of US dollars, the unsatisfactory response from the Central Bank has been that T&T does not have a foreign-exchange shortage.However, it has recently come to light that a new system the Central Bank implemented a few months ago in an attempt to enhance the supply of US currency to the forex market has had the opposite effect. The new, more stringently controlled auction system was supposed to ensure a level playing field for businesses of all sizes to access foreign exchange.
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