The foreign exchange scarcity experienced by local manufacturers over the past three months has resulted in strained relationships with overseas creditors, says Ronnie Mohammed, vice president of Nutrimix Ltd.

Mohammed has called on the authorities to immediately address the situation.

He said that the shortage of foreign currency had a negative impact on the company’s business operations and should not be allowed to continue.

Mohammed made the comment in the presence of Trade Minister Mariano Browne and Consumer Affairs Minister Peter Taylor at the company’s launch of a new product at its Point Lisas plant last week.

Mohammed said: ’Inability to pay our creditors in time has strained our relationships and eroded the element of trust and reliability necessary to facilitate trade.’

He said that the timely ordering and receiving of imported goods had been stalled and the strain brought about an increase in costs.

Nutrimix operates one of the largest poultry farms and manufactures a range of flour at Nutrimix Flour Mills, Pt Lisas.

At the launch of a new premium flour held recently, Mohammed said that Nutrimix had initiated a number of innovative changes that had a positive impact on the lives of its customers.

’A larger scale of operation provides advantages and enable the manufacturer to enjoy a better placement in the marketplace,’ he said.

He said that continued growth and development could not take place with a foreign currency shortage as it stalled the company’s ability to effectively operate and compete on the local and international market.

Government’s position is that the country received much of its foreign exchange from the energy sector and the slowdown of the sector had affected the cash flow.

Despite a loss of $1 billion worth of foreign exchange reserves, Government maintains that there was no foreign exchange crisis.

But businessmen said that they had been restricted to US$1,000 to US$5,000 cash a day, and early this year, the Central Bank injected US$300 million into the financial system to satisfy the need for US currency.