Durrant Pate/Contributor

The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) is projecting slower growth during the June quarter.

During the previous March 2024 quarter, the Jamaican economy grew within the range of 1.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent, resulting in a fiscal year growth that is from April 2023 to March 2024, in the range of 1.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent.

While not disclosing the exact projection, the BOJ anticipates growth for the upcoming quarters but at a more moderate rate. 

Looking ahead, the central bank expects that real gross domestic product will increase by 1.0 to 2.0 per cent for current 2024/25 fiscal year.

This growth is projected to be broad-based with modest increases in hotels and restaurants and its allied industries; mining and quarrying; agriculture, forestry and fishing; manufacturing; and electricity and water supply.

Foreign exchange market 

The BOJ is reporting that over the 12 months to the end of April 2024, on average, the Jamaican dollar depreciated against the US dollar by 1.4 per cent, continuing the fairly stable trend over the last two years. There was, however, an uptick in the pace of depreciation in April, which primarily resulted from a seasonal increase in demand following the ending of the March tax season. 

To prevent undue volatility in the foreign exchange market, the BOJ sold US$983 million via its B-FXITT facility over the 12 months to the end of April 2024. BOJ Governor, Richard Byles told yesterday’s quarterly Central Bank News Briefing, “when these sales are set against BOJ purchases, the result is that the Bank net purchased approximately US$1.3 billion over the period, resulting in NIR of US$5.1 billion as at end April 2024.” 

He disclosed that the pace of depreciation slowed over the first two weeks of May promising that the BOJ will continue to act to ensure orderly movements in the exchange rate.