Jamaica’s International Reserves Hit Record US$6.3b

Jamaica’s international reserves remain robust despite the worsened external position resulting from Hurricane Melissa, which impacted the country on October 28.

Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Governor, Richard Byles, reported that the reserves stood at a historically high US$6.3 billion in mid-December 2025.

Addressing the BOJ’s Quarterly Monetary Policy Report press conference, held on Monday (December 22) at the BOJ auditorium in downtown Kingston, he stated that this represents approximately 151 per cent of the adequacy benchmark.

“These reserves will be buoyed by the various disaster risk financing, multilateral funding and grant flows, including the receipt of proceeds related to the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility and the Catastrophe Bond,” he explained.

Meanwhile, the Governor stated that the Central Bank will remain proactive in maintaining relative stability within the foreign exchange market.

Since the passage of the hurricane, the BOJ has injected US$250 million into the market.

“We have also directly supplied the foreign exchange needs of selected players in the energy sector to take large, lumpy purchases out of the market, as well as reintroduce scheduled advance notices of intervention sales,” Mr. Byles said.

The Governor reasoned that the notice facilitates the market’s expectation of liquidity entering their trades.

With these actions, Mr. Byles noted that the exchange rate remained stable between November 1 and mid-December, relative to the end of October 2025.

“Cumulatively, BOJ sold US$1.1 billion via its B-FXITT (BOJ Foreign Exchange Intervention Trading Tool) facility over the 12 months to the end of November 2025, largely in line with the amount sold over the 12 months to December 2024. At the same time, net foreign exchange purchases have amounted to approximately US$1 billion over the 12 months to the end of November 2025,” the Governor explained.

Going forward, Mr. Byles stated that the Central Bank will continue to proactively implement measures to maintain orderly conditions in the foreign exchange market, noting that instability can drive higher prices across the economy.