One of the writers to the Sunday Guardian was lamenting that he was confused as to why we had a foreign exchange problem. I am not confused at all. It is very simple. From the day that foreign exchange was freed up in 1992, the civil servants (Central Bank) were blindsided and outraged that they no longer had control of the business community.They have done everything in their power to regain that control, which they eventually succeeded in doing. Ever since then it has been thunder for the business community. They keep sitting on the largest foreign exchange reserves ever and creating havoc to the extent of some are even calling for a devaluation, and at the same time doing incalculable harm to the country and it's economy.This is ludicrous. They use all kinds of excuses–capital flight; we have to save for a rainy day; etc. The fact is that it is storming out there and they don't care. The Finance Minister can solve the problem by doing what was successful–give it back to the private sector. The system worked perfectly under their stewardship.And sir, please remember next time the old adage "if it ain't broke don't fix it".
F Mouttet,
via e-mail