December 11, 2020
Jamaica’s Net International Reserves (NIR) totalled US$2,962.76 million as at November 2020, reflecting an increase of US$69.46 million relative to the US$2,893.31 million reported at the end of October 2020 (see figure 1).
This change in the NIR resulted from a US$72.70 million increase in Foreign Assets which total US$3,932.33 million compared to the US$3,859.62 million reported for October 2020. ‘Currency & Deposits’ contributed the most to the increase in Foreign Assets. ‘Currency & Deposits’ as at November 2020 totalled US$3,378.18 million reflecting an increase of US$63.58 million compared to US$3,314.60 million booked as at October 2020.
‘Securities’ amounted to US$331.20 million; US$9.77 million more than the US$321.43 million reported at October 2020. While, ‘SDR & IMF Reserve Position’ amounted to US$222.95 million; US$0.64 million less than the US$223.59 million reported at October 2020. Liabilities to the IMF accounted for 100% of total Foreign Liabilities; this amounted to US$969.56 million which reflected a month on month increase of US$3.25 million in comparison to the US$966.32 million recorded for October 2020.
At its current value, the NIR is US$143.11 million less than its total of US$3,105.87 million reported at the end of November 2019. The current reserve is able to support approximately 51.99 weeks of goods imports and 37.39 weeks of goods and services imports.
Figure 1
Figure 2
The country came in above the benchmark of US$3.155 billion outlined by the International Monetary Fund for March 2020, closing the fiscal year at US$3.24 billion, US$0.09 million above targeted amount. The Net International Reserve (NIR) target outlined as per the new agreement for the 2020/21 fiscal year is US$3.485 billion (see figure 2 above). As at November 2020, the Country is US$0.53 million below the targeted amount.
Co-chair of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee Keith Duncan, at a virtual press conference in September 2020 indicated that the financial year started with the NIR being US$3.24 billion but, on September 7, the reserves reduced to US$2.75 billion, with a year-end projection of US$2.47 billion. He noted, “The recovery of tourism will be critical for us in terms of earning foreign exchange so that we can minimise our call on our Net International Reserves going forward. Tourism earnings are critical despite an increase in net remittances, which was up of 20.19% over the April to June quarter last year.”
Disclaimer:
Analyst Certification -The views expressed in this research report accurately reflect the personal views of Mayberry Investments Limited Research Department about those issuer (s) or securities as at the date of this report. Each research analyst (s) also certify that no part of their compensation was, is, or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific recommendation(s) or view (s) expressed by that research analyst in this research report.
Company Disclosure -The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, however its accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. You are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Mayberry may effect transactions or have positions in securities mentioned herein. In addition, employees of Mayberry may have positions and effect transactions in the securities mentioned herein.
