BOJ Forecasts Weaker Lending 

• The central bank is projecting weaker growth in deposit takers' offerings of private sector credit over the next eight quarters.
• In its quarterly Monetary Policy Report for the June quarter published on August 19, the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) stated that private sector credit is projected to grow at an average rate of 8.1% up to the June 2024 quarter, compared to the previous forecast, for an expansion of 10.0%.
• It noted that the projected annual expansion over the near term reflects a slightly less optimistic economic outlook amid the continued recovery from the impact of the pandemic.
• "The weaker growth, relative to the previous forecast, is influenced by the impact of contractionary monetary conditions," the BOJ said, pointing out that this followed its decision to further increase the policy rate in the June 2022 quarter.
• With lending institutions beginning to pass on the policy rate increases to the price of loans, the pace of loan growth is expected to slow.

(Source: BOJ)