Remittances Fall For Third Consecutive Year

Remittances to Jamaica have fallen for a third straight year as economic uncertainty looms amid the Trump administration’s tariff policies.

According to statistics from the Bank of Jamaica, remittances fell by six percent or nearly 17-Million US Dollars in December 2024, compared to the corresponding period for 2023.

The country also recorded a zero-point-4 percent decline year on year.

It’s twinned with news from the two largest central banks, namely the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, that they’ll both be holding interest rate cuts in anticipation of further actions by Donald Trump in his ongoing tariff war.

Daina Davy, tells us more.

In the latter part of last year, Central banks across the world started adopting favourable monetary policies, with interest rate cuts to stimulate economic growth.

The Bank of Jamaica, initiated four quarters of cuts, reducing its base rate from 7-percent to 6-percent.

However, this all changed in February, when BOJ Governor, Richard Byles, informed the nation it was being forced to adopt a wait-and-see approach as the Trump administration’s trade war escalated.

The BOJ’s stance was also prophetic.

Just a month later, both the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England adopted similar stances.

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it was leaving interest rates unchanged.

It warned of rising uncertainty about the direction of the economy, in part because of President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda.

The Fed said its key federal funds rate, which serves as a benchmark for interest rates throughout the economy, would remain at about 4-point-5-percent.

The Bank of England also left interest rates unchanged.

It noted that the U.K. economy is contending with uncertainty around global trade and looming stagnation at home.

And Jamaica is not immune from the effects.

The US and the UK remain the largest and second-largest countries for foreign exchange remittances.

Total remittance inflows to Jamaica for 2024, were 3-point-4-billion US dollars.

It’s a decline of about zero-point-2-percent compared to 2023.

With growing uncertainty in the global market, 2025 is similarly shaping up to be a difficult year for Jamaica.