Jamaica's NIR increased in December

• Jamaica's Net International Reserves (NIR) increased in December. At the end of the month, the NIR was US$3.98 billion.
• This was $128.1 million higher than November’s reserves of $3.85 billion. The reserves at the end of December could cover up to 25 weeks of goods and services imports.
• The concept of Net International Reserves (NIR) is widely used as an indicator of a country’s external vulnerability. It is defined as the difference between reserve assets and reserve liabilities with reserve assets being readily available claims on nonresidents denominated in foreign convertible currencies and reserve liabilities being all foreign exchange liabilities to residents and non-residents.
• With a global recession being anticipated, an improvement in the NIR puts the country in a better position to withstand adverse exogenous shocks. Moreover, the government is also better positioned to service debt-related obligations should adverse economic conditions arise.

(Source: RJR News)