BOJ Issued $2.9 Billion During Last Five Working Days

• The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) says net currency issued during the last five working days of 2019, between December 23 and 31, totalled some $2.9Bn.
• In a statement on Thursday (January 2), the BOJ said this out-turn for the week contributed to the overall $18.9Bn or 14.5% growth in the currency stock for the month, consistent with expenditure associated with the festive Christmas season.
• The Central Bank indicated that the overall stock of currency issued for the year totalled $148.9Bn as at December 31. This, the BOJ said, represented an annual increase of 11.5%, as against 20.4% recorded for the corresponding period in 2018.
• The BOJ said it anticipates that the majority of the currency in circulation during December will be redeemed during January. It further noted that over the last five years, net currency redemption in January averaged 73.2% of the sum issued in the preceding month.

(Source: JIS)