BOJ adds US$30m to forex market as producers still need US$18m

Manufacturers and other producers still needed US$18 million to settle bills for production inputs, major equipment and replacement parts, even after the Bank of Jamaica returned to the foreign exchange market on Friday.

The central bank put US$30 million into the market, matching the sum it had supplied a day earlier, when requests from the productive sector rose to US$78 million.

On Monday, the BOJ is expected to deepen its liquidity controls by withdrawing J$55 billion from the financial system. The measure is intended to leave fewer Jamaican dollars available for buying US currency and to reduce strain on the foreign exchange market.