The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) said that as a response to the ongoing impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic it will be taking all the necessary steps to safeguard the level of net international reserves (NIR) held by the country at this time.

“The extent and duration of COVID-19 is still uncertain and the bank will therefore continue to judiciously use reserves to only address excessive movements in the exchange rate. Further, the sale of foreign exchange (FX) will only be to the productive sector to assist in paying for imported goods and services,” said Dr Wayne Robinson, deputy governor in charge of the research & economic programming and financial stability at the BOJ, in response to questions from the Jamaica Observer this week.

He said that the recent volatility of the dollar [which has been hitting record highs in the past few days] mainly stems from the fallout in tourism and remittances which are major FX earners for the country.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sunday-finance/boj-committed-to-safeguarding-reserves-says-fx-will-only-be-sold-to-productive-sector-to-facilitate-trade-needs_193764