The Jamaican dollar appreciated for a second consecutive week last week

This time, the local currency improved last week by 0.77 per cent, moving from a selling rate of $150.26 on September 10, 2021, to $149.10 on September 17, 2021. A reduction in the demand for American dollar from end-users and an improvement in remittances influenced the appreciation.

For the week ended September 17, 2021, liquidity for the greenback money market remained generally moderate. Broker market demand is at 30-day and longer tenured funds.

Jamaican dollar liquidity conditions, however, remained tight. The average yield of the Bank of Jamaica’s (BOJ) competitive auction on its 30-day Certificates of Deposit rose to 1.91 per cent relative to 1.71 per cent in the prior week.

The highest bid for full allocation was 2.349 per cent. The bid to cover ratio, the ratio of bids made relative to the total issue size, declined to 1.40 down from 1.69 in the previous week. The ratio continues to reflect the tightening of Jamaican dollar liquidity