Bank of Jamaica Monetary Policy 2024 Schedule for Policy Interest Rate Announcements
Bank of Jamaica today publishes the schedule of announcements of monetary policy decisions for 2024 and reconfirms the scheduled announcements dates for the remainder of 2023, which were previously published on 23 November 2022.
The scheduled dates for monetary policy announcements for the remainder of 2023 and 2024 are as follows:
| Wednesday, 20 December 2023 |
| Tuesday, 20 February 2024 |
| Thursday, 28 March 2024 |
| Monday, 20 May 2024 |
| Friday, 28 June 2024 |
| Tuesday, 20 August 2024 |
| Monday, 30 September 2024 |
| Thursday, 21 November 2024 |
| Friday, 20 December 2024 |
Announcements will, at minimum, be in the form of a press release, which will indicate, inter-alia, the decision on the policy interest rate (the interest rate paid by Bank of Jamaica on overnight placements by deposit‐taking institutions) and the rationale for the decision.
The Bank will continue to host quarterly press conferences to discuss the rationale for its decisions and the economic outlook for Jamaica.
Background
This public commitment to a schedule for announcing monetary policy decisions is intended to improve the transparency of Bank of Jamaica’s monetary policy framework. The objective of monetary policy conducted by Bank of Jamaica is to ensure that the inflation target set by the Government is met.
In making a monetary policy decision, the Bank undertakes a comprehensive assessment of economic conditions and inflation. This assessment is done eight times during the year. At the end of each quarter, when most data on the key macroeconomic variables are available and current, the Bank prepares a comprehensive macroeconomic forecast at least eight quarters ahead, covering the international economy, the fiscal accounts, the balance of payments, money, credit, interest rates, output (GDP) and prices (inflation). Another assessment is made halfway through each quarter which primarily analyses the balance of risks to the most recent quarterly forecast.
Bank of Jamaica is committed to transparency in its policies and will continue to take steps to improve the communication of monetary policy.
