Jamaica: Currency & Financial System

Jamaica's currency is the Jamaican dollar, introduced in 1969 to replace the Jamaican pound following a 1968 parliamentary vote to decimalize the currency. The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) has been the sole issuer of Jamaican banknotes and coins since its founding in 1960. Circulating denominations include coins from one to twenty dollars and banknotes from fifty to five thousand dollars, with a two-thousand-dollar note added to the series in 2022.

Jamaica operates a market-determined exchange rate, with the BOJ intervening through its foreign exchange trading platform rather than defending a fixed rate, and international reviewers have urged further reductions in surrender requirements and intervention to let the rate float more freely. The BOJ pursues an inflation-targeting framework with a target range of 4 to 6 percent; as of February 2026, it cut its policy rate to 5.5 percent after headline inflation eased to 3.9 percent, citing lower food prices following Hurricane Melissa and relative currency stability. Gross international reserves have remained ample, covering roughly seven months of imports.

The banking sector operates under BOJ supervision, which authorities have been consolidating into a unified framework covering banks, securities dealers, and insurers. As of 2026, bank capital adequacy stood at roughly 14 to 15 percent and securities dealers at about 22 percent, both comfortably above regulatory minimums, and the BOJ has reported the system as resilient to shocks including Hurricane Melissa. Private credit growth has slowed from its 2023 pace, and ongoing reforms include adopting Basel III capital standards and broadening the central bank's supervisory reach.