Durrant Pate/Contributor

Liquidity in Jamaica’s money market declined this past week, as measured by the aggregated current balances held by deposit-taking institutions (DTIs). 

As at August 29, 2025, the total aggregate current balance amounted to J$60.99 billion, marking a 20.5 per cent contraction compared to the previous week. Demand for money market instruments remains strong, as evidenced by the oversubscription in the weekly Bank of Jamaica’s (BOJ) 30-day Certificate of Deposit (CD) auctions. 

The average yield on the 30-day CD Auction inched down to 5.94 per cent from 5.97 per cent the previous week. Total bids amounted to J$61.76 billion relative to the J$51.00 billion issue size, implying a bid-to-offer ratio of 1.21x. 

While the previous week’s 1.58x bid-to-offer was higher, the bid amount was also higher at J$66.59 billion and outweighed the lower offer size of J$42.00 billion. In the foreign exchange market last week, the Jamaican dollar depreciated slightly (-0.2 per cent) with the greenback selling rate moving from J$160.84 to J$161.09.

The depreciation occurred despite the Central Bank intervening in the market thrice last week with a total US$90 million. With the activity seen in recent weeks, the exchange rate appears to be settling around the J$160–J$161 range.