Jamaica’s NIR jumps 50% in five years

Jamaica’s net international reserves (NIR) are at US$3.3 billion in March this year is now at the highest level since hitting a brief high of $3.67 billion in August 2017 has grown 50 percent since the start of January 2016 and 35 percent since the end of 2015.
During 2016, the NIR remained under US$2.6 billion up to November before reaching a high for the year of just over $2.7 billion and ended the year with an average of US$2.4 billion. The average for 2017 up to August was US$2.68 billion, with April with the highest of US$2.85 billion.
After peaking in August, the NIR fell back to US$3.1 in September and remained above the US$3 billion levels until October 2018, when it dipped briefly below and moved back above it in December of that year. It remained above $3 billion levels until June 2019 and dipped briefly below in July and August. In September, it moved back above it until April 2020. By September last year, the NIR slipped to US$2.75 billion and started to rebuilds reaching over US$3.1 billion in December, a month for healthy inflows and reduced demands. There was a slight slip below US$3 billion in January to US$2.98 billion, but by the end of February, it moved back above the US$3 billion levels before hitting a recent high of US$3.3 billion at the end of March.
The increased NIR comes against a dramatic fall in local interest rates, with the Treasury bill rates falling for 6 percent for 91 days instrument at the start of 2016, to just 1.94 percent in April this year. The latest increase in the NIR took place when tourism, one of the country’s major foreign exchange earners, was operating around a third of its capacity since the second half of 2020.