There is growing concerns within the financial sector over the large volumes of hard currency being shipped from Jamaica — upwards of $50 million monthly — which cannot adequately be justified.

This legitimises the de-risking concerns being exhibited towards Jamaica by foreign banks, which are refusing to hold US cash on behalf of their local counterpart.

Peter Higgins, who is a part of the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Foreign Exchange Code Working Group, admitted that “too much cash is being shipped from Jamaica and to a great extent it cannot be explained”.

Speaking at the Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange, he cited this as the main reason foreign banks are refusing to hold US$ cash on behalf of their Jamaican counterparts, citing de-risking concerns.

Higgins made the point that two years ago, he did a study, which showed that upwards of US$40 to US$50 million cash was being shipped from Jamaica on a monthly basis.

Most of this money is not coming directly from the banking sector but cambios buying hard currency in the market place.

“Even though we are a tourist destination most of the tourists use cards and not cash to pay for their vacation, so why is it that we are shipping so much cash,” Higgins reasoned.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business-observer/concern-over-high-amounts-of-us-us-222-million-cash-purchased-in-the-first-six-months-of-2019_171747