Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) is taking steps towards increasing its operational resilience.

These steps include relocating some of its operations to a recently acquired property in St Andrew. The operations to be carried out at the new location will not include services to the public.

Explaining the rationale for the decision to activate the operational centre in addition to its downtown Kingston headquarters, BOJ Governor Richard Byles noted that central banking functions are critical to business activity and government operations for the entire country, and are required to facilitate business transactions between Jamaica and the rest of the world.

As such, he said, the country’s central banking functions need to be safeguarded as best as possible, against all forms of disruptions. He added that in the event of disasters, central banking services should remain intact or be among the first to be restored.

“The location of the bank on the Kingston waterfront makes it particularly vulnerable to geological activities such as earthquakes and to the potential effects of sea level rise either by itself, or resulting from an earthquake or storm surges driven by tropical cyclones. As part of our risk management, BOJ plans for various eventualities and seeks to minimise the possibility of a complete shutdown of its operations in the event of a disaster,” Byles explained.

He added that enhancing the resilience of the operations of the central bank will be of significant benefit to the entire country and is a major focus of the bank’s board and management.

“Building operational resilience and mitigating risks of various forms is especially critical as Bank of Jamaica prepares to assume wider prudential responsibilities for the regulation and supervision of the entire financial sector. With this in mind, planning for expansion at our current site while also ensuring adequate mitigation of risks to critical operational functions are not mutually exclusive.” Byles pointed out.