The Bank of Jamaica intervened in the foreign exchange market on Thursday, October 17, with a flash sale of US$30 million through its B-FXITT platform.

The offer was oversubscribed with the total value of eligible bids amounting to US$53.1 million. While the BOJ received 42 bids from authorised dealers, it could only satisfy 22 bids.

The settlement price was $158.82 despite getting bids as high as $158.88 and as low as $158.82. National Commercial Bank, JMMB Bank and Scotiabank received the highest allocations of US dollars.

The central bank’s flash sale comes when the value of the US dollar has sold above $159 Jamaican since October 8, when it closed trading at $159.01.

The currency peaked at US$159.48 last Monday, October14, and closed on Thursday, October 17, at $159.20.

This is the third time the BOJ has intervened in the foreign exchange market this week, selling US$30 million on October 15 and 16. All offers were oversubscribed.

The bank today again announced a flash sale of US$30 million for settlement on Tuesday. This would make US$120 million sold in total this week.