The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) is causing a stir on Twitter today (April 23) for taking a jab at Jamaicans as the reason the currency continues to slide against the greenback United States dollar.

The BOJ, serving a dose of reality to Twitter users curious as to why the Jamaican dollar is depreciating to an all-time low of $154.39 at the close of trading on Thursday, said that demand for the US dollar doesn’t come from thin air.

“Who should I blame? Government or BOJ?” asked @bilalternative in a tweet, which got the whole conversation started.

The BOJ replied, “A lower rate would mean more supply, so whenever you want to see that, you need to earn more FX and sell into the market, or urge others to do so. FX doesn’t magically appear from anywhere; it has to be earned by the private sector. The answer, therefore, is to blame yourself.”

The reply has since been deleted but not before screenshots were taken.

The response, or rather how it was framed, has polarised much of the Twittersphere as some welcomed the fiery clap back by the Central Bank after receiving its ‘independence’ days ago.

Others were not so impressed, slamming BOJ for being unnecessarily harsh and unprofessional in its reply. Those among the Jamaican Twitter users it was a strong, indelicate stance to take against someone not aware of the currency-trading mechanisms.

“You know you are responding to a medical student right? SMH,” KhiaJosina Duncan tweeted.

In their eyes, the bank, which has tremendous social media influence with its Croc O. Doyle mascot, is setting up itself to be unapproachable.

“I don’t like this at all. Had to double-check if this was the same checked account educating us on inflation not too long ago. Sometimes it make sense to have others read over a tweet before hitting send,” @Mandi143 responded.

More still, found the retort offered clarity that the issue might not rest on just all Jamaicans but a particular group, the private sector, as mentioned by the bank.

“The BOJ can’t fix our currency problems; monetary policy can only do so much. The government leaves the private sector to make decisions relating to earning and investment. The private sector uses its capital on import-retail cycles rather than production cycles,” @SiggonKristov commented.

“More like blame the uncompetitive private sector for not being able to compete internationally. But, then again, we can also blame government. Because, it is the government bureaucracy that strangles local businesses with its onerous regulations,” @Terruh1 added.