The Bank of Jamaica’s (BOJ) sales of US$30 million over the last two days—for a combined US$60 million—have been oversubscribed by over 100 per cent on each offer.

On Wednesday, January 8, the central bank used the Bank of Jamaica Foreign Exchange Intervention Trading Tool (B-FXITT) to sell US$30 million to deposit-taking institutions and cambios at a settlement rate of $156.15 to US$1.

The offer was oversubscribed, as the bank received US$69.5 million in bids, representing 131.67 per cent more than that on offer. It received 44 bids but only allocated 21. The highest bid was $156.84 to US$1, and the lowest was $156.10.

The BOJ again intervened in the foreign exchange market on Thursday, January 9, 2025, with an offer of US$30 million which was settled at $156.15. The highest bid was $156.36, and the lowest was $156.18.

The offer was oversubscribed by 125.7 per cent with a total bid of US$67.7 million. The bank fulfilled only 20 of the 46 bids.

The US dollar began trading at $156.51 after ending 2024 at $156.42. Since then, the selling rate for the greenback has risen and on January 7 ended at $157.28.

Following the BOJ’s intervention in the market on January 8, the selling rate ended at $156.77, but it rose marginally to $156.85 on January 9.

Given the demand for US dollars based on the oversubscription of offers for sale and the current selling rate, the BOJ may again intervene in the market today with another B-FXITT offer. At the end of December 2024, the central bank’s net international reserves (NIR) stood at US$5.58 billion or 3.2 per cent more than in November 2024. With that level of NIR, the BOJ can cover approximately 44 weeks of imported goods.