BOJ Urged to Ease Interest Rates to Prevent Economic Downturn

Chairman of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee, EPOC, Keith Duncan, is calling on the Bank of Jamaica, BOJ, to ease interest rates in a bid to cushion the potential economic fallout of Hurricane Beryl.

According to Mr. Duncan the impact of the Category Four storm, which passed just south of Jamaica on July 3, will be acute.

Mr. Duncan was speaking with Nationwide News on Wednesday.

The country has thus far enjoyed eleven quarters of unbroken economic growth since recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the current fiscal year before the impact of Beryl, the country was expected to continue growing on average 1.8% for the fiscal year.

However, according to Mr. Duncan, Gross Domestic Product, GDP, is anticipated to decline in the second quarter of 2024 due to the storm.

This will also be accompanied by a potential rise in inflation.

Keith Duncan, Chairman of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee.

Meanwhile, Chartered Accountant, Dennis Chung, believes Jamaica cannot sustain the current high interest rate environment following the passage of Hurricane Beryl.

Mr. Chung agrees that the Bank of Jamaica should consider easing interest rates or risk the country going into a recession.

He’s also dismissing concerns that a reduction in interest rates could drive up inflation.

He argues that any increase in prices would be temporary.

However, Chung believes the government should adopt fiscal policies to better tame inflation.

Dennis Chung, Chartered Accountant.