Durrant Pate/ Contributor

The Government of Jamaica (GOJ) is now in the local capital market today, floating a 14-year J$3-billion fixed-rate bond to support its budgetary expenditure for the current 20205/2026 financial year.

The 14-year, 4-month instrument, being priced today by competitive auction, is due March 18, 2040. It will carry a fixed 8.25% interest rate with semi-annual payments starting March 18, 2026. Also in the money market, Jamaican dollar liquidity, as measured by the aggregated current balances held by Deposit-Taking Institutions (DTIs), rose last week. 

As at November 21, 2025, the total aggregate current balance amounted to J$52.13 billion, marking a 13.1% increase. The yield on the Bank of Jamaica’s (BOJ’s)30-day Certificate of Deposit continued to decline in last week’s auction. The yield, which had reached a year-to-date high of 6.28% in the October 29 auction, closed at 5.93% on November 21, down from 5.95% the prior week. 

Total bids reached J$52.06 billion against a J$39 billion offer, at a bid-to-offer ratio of 1.33x. 

FX market operations

In the Foreign Exchange (FX) market, the Jamaican dollar appreciated by 0.6% last week, with the USD selling rate moving from J$161.62  to J$160.65. This slight week-on-week appreciation was driven by the intervention of the BO  through its B-FXITT auction.

During the week, the BOJ intervened in the FX market three times, on November 19th, 20th, and 21st, selling a total of US$90 million to the market to augment market supplies. The total sale amount was, however, below the US$169.25 million received in total bids, indicating a high level of demand for US dollars relative to what is currently available in the market.