THE Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) said Monday that it does not expect recent salary increases to have a material impact on the inflation rate and stayed from signalling when it may start to reverse rates. Governor Richard Byles, however, mirrored language contained in Friday’s release from the monetary policy committee (MPC) which announced a continuation of the pause in its policy rate going into a seventh-straight month.

“We are going to have to feel confident that we are firmly within the 4 to 6 per cent corridor [for inflation],” Byles responded when asked about the earliest time he could forecast rates starting to be reversed.

Inflation dipped to a 21-month low 5.8 per cent in April and has been declining steadily over recent months, but Byles indicated that it is too soon to start thinking about reversing rates which have been settling at 7 per cent since November last year.

https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/pay-bumps-impact-negligible/