Durrant Pate/Contributor

Recent developments in Jamaica’s money market indicate that demand remains strong, evidenced by the oversubscription in last week’s Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) 30-day Certificate of Deposit (CD) Auction results.

The average yield on the 30-day CD Auction inched up to 5.84% from 5.73% the previous week. Total bids amounted to $42.19 billion relative to the J$37 billion issue size, implying a bid-to-offer ratio of 1.14x. While the previous week’s 1.24x bid-to-offer was higher, the bid and offer amounts were also higher at $55.76 billion and J$45 billion, respectively. 

The BOJ also conducted a 14-day Repurchase Operation with deposit-taking institutions for the provision of Jamaican dollar liquidity, in the amount of J$1.2 billion. The auction was oversubscribed with J$1.7 billion total bids and an average yield of 5.98%. 

Additionally, the Government of Jamaica’s (GOJ’s) most recent 91-Day and 182-Day Treasury Bills (T-Bills) auction to finance its budgetary requirements was oversubscribed. 

The average yields for the respective tenors were 5.3098% and 5.3827%, down from 5.4668% and 5.4978%. The next auction of the Government of Jamaica’s Treasury Bills is scheduled for Wednesday, July 9, 2025. 

Liquidity in the money market declined last week, as measured by the aggregated current balances held by Deposit Taking Institutions (DTIs). As at June 6, 2025, the total aggregate current balance amounted to J$60.04 billion, marking a 5.8% decline compared to the previous week. 

FX market operations

In the Foreign Exchange, the Jamaican dollar depreciated by 0.13% last week, with the USD selling rate to J$160.34. The depreciation reflects the absence of the BOJ’s B-FXITT intervention, coupled with increasing demand from dealers for the USD.

Unless the BOJ intervenes this week the local currency is expected to continue depreciating.