The EPOC met on December 3, 2021 to review the macro fiscal programme of the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) and the monetary performance of the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) for the fiscal year 2021/22.
The following were key highlights noted by EPOC:
- Inflationary expectations continue to increase as inflation continues to breach G0J target range of 4% – 6%
- BOJ projects inflation to peak at 8-9% over the next 10 months before settling back into the GOJ target range
- BOJ signals strong possibility of further policy interest rate increasesAs at October 2021, GOJ Fiscal targets are marginally behind due to missed Tax Revenue target
- October 2021, Tax Revenues were noticeably behind budget primarily due to COVID-19 containment measures.
- Net International Reserves remain robust at US$3.90B
- Jamaica’s Vaccination level is under 20% as Jamaica prepares for the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic
Based on the preliminary results for performance to date through to the end of September 2021, the GOJ has met the available Quantitative Performance Targets for the GOJ ERP for end September 2021, with the exception of the Inflation target.
