Latest update September 28th, 2026 10:20 AM
Foreigners blocked from transferring investment to Guyana – Irfaan Ali
Remittances to Guyanese from the Diaspora are now being threatened because of the uncertainty lingering over the passage of the amendments to Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act 2009. There is the strong possibility of Guyana being blacklisted.
Minister Irfaan Ali
This is according to Irfaan Ali, Minister of Tourism, Trade, Industry and Commerce, who said “Although the timeframe has not elapsed, the financial institutions are taking this seriously and have already commenced action that is affecting the transfer of resources and the cost of doing business.”
Guyana missed the August 26 deadline set by Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) to submit the legislation and other relevant documents. That date was given so that all documents could have been reviewed and assessed for relevance and appropriateness by the CFATF.
These findings will then be translated into Spanish and issued to the 28 other countries so that at the November 2013 plenary in the Bahamas, the plenary will decide on Guyana’s efforts to address these deficiencies.
Even if the Bill is passed in the National Assembly before November, when measures taken by Guyana to comply with CFATF’s recommendations will be reviewed, Guyana can be referred to CFATF as a country that has not taken sufficient steps to address its deficiencies.
According to Ali, over the past four days Government has received many complaints from persons trying to transfer money from overseas financial institutions to Guyana.
“I am of the strong view that should we not accomplish the task of passing the legislation the economic impact and implications and cost for doing business, for not only the local financial sector but for every single Guyanese because we have large amounts of remittances that come to Guyana, would be placed in jeopardy,” he added.
He said that it is very important for Guyanese to understand that the present condition is already creating tremendous hardships in terms of doing business and transferring monies to Guyana. “It would be a direct impact on foreign direct investors, who would have difficulty in transferring capital to Guyana,” the Minister stated.
Ali is fearful that this situation could contribute to capital flight, where investors feel threatened to the extent they conduct most of their financial services overseas, thus impacting the transactional flow in Guyana.
“These are severe consequences that are already showing its face. I think that this is tantamount to economic sabotage and economic sabotage by the Opposition is a serious issue that must be dealt with condignly,” he added.
Ali said that citizens should not allow the Opposition to sabotage the economic future, viability, and interest of Guyana because of political persuasion.
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