Durrant Pate/Contributor

Demand for money market instruments continued to outweigh supply, as evidenced by the oversubscription of weekly 30-day Certificate of Deposit (CD) auctions offered by the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ).

The average yield on the 30-day CD auction inched up 3 basis points to 5.75% from 5.56% in the previous week. Total bids received amounted to J$23.56 billion relative to the offer size of J$14.00 billion. 

This implies a bid-to-offer ratio of 1.68x, which is slightly below 1.79x in the previous week. With the additional $14.00 billion offer, the total nominal outstanding amount for the 30-day CDs was J$91.00 billion on its April 25th settlement date. 

The next auction is scheduled for tomorrow, April 30.

JMD money market liquidity 

Liquidity in the JMD money market increased, as measured by the aggregated current balances held by Deposit-Taking Institutions (DTIs). 

As at April 25, 2025, the total aggregate current balance amounted to J$69.84 billion, marking a 14.2% rise compared to the previous week. 

In the foreign exchange market, the Jamaican dollar depreciated by -0.20% relative to the USD, week over week, with the USD selling rate moving from J$158.59 to J$158.92. 

A combination of strong demand and limited availability of USD was behind the weakening of the Jamaican currency.