Jamaica
News - Real Estate - Finance (February
12, 2005)
Jamaican dollar appreciates for the first time in seven years
The Jamaican dollar has appreciated for the first
time in seven years, Governor of the Bank of Jamaica, Derick Latibeaudiere
reported on Thursday.
According to the Governor, the weighted
average selling rate of the domestic currency appreciated by 0.4 per cent in the
December 2004 quarter relative to the previous quarter, reflecting the stability
that has been in evidence since late 2003.
Mr. Latibeaudiere, who made the announcement at
the quarterly press briefing, held at the bank in downtown Kingston, emphasized
that this was the first quarter in which the Jamaican dollar has appreciated
since June of 1998.
The Governor said the bank was expecting the
foreign exchange market to remain fairly stable for the rest of the fiscal year.
“The continued stability in the foreign
exchange market in the review quarter was influenced by increased investor
confidence associated with the expectations of continued improvements in the
domestic economy,” Mr. Latibeaudiere said.
This, he said, came against the background of
the positive reviews regarding the country’s macro-economic performance by
international research and rating agencies, in spite of the adverse impact of
Hurricane Ivan last year September.
The Governor pointed out that the successful
raising of 150 million Euros on the international capital market in the quarter,
as well as strong medium-term growth prospects for foreign direct investments
had boosted the confidence of investors.
For the March quarter, the seasonal increase
in foreign exchange inflows from the tourism sector, as well as the significant
levels of the net international reserves (NIR), should contribute to the
continued stability in the foreign exchange market, Mr. Latibeaudiere said.
He pointed out that the NIR has remained at over
US$1.8 billion since October 2004.
For 2004, the Governor noted that the weighted
average exchange rate depreciated by 1.6 per cent, significantly less than the
15.9 per cent recorded in 2003. This is reported to be the smallest rate of
depreciation in any year since the 1.5 percent recorded in 1998.
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