Your Financial FactSheet

Fitch Ratings yesterday downgraded Jamaica’s long-term local currency rating to ‘C’ from ‘CCC’. In addition, Fitch has affirmed Jamaica’s long-term and short-term foreign currency ratings at ‘CCC’ and ‘C’ respectively, and affirmed the Country Ceiling at ‘B-‘. Jamaica’s sovereign ratings Outlook remains Negative.

THE recently announced Jamaica debt exchange offer which sees 350 instruments reduced to just 24 offering an interest rate of 12.25 per cent may — albeit inadvertently — help to spur the Jamaican economy into greater productivity, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Business confidence among Jamaican firms improved in the last quarter of 2009, but consumer confidence continued to decline, researcher Professor Richard Curtain said Tuesday.

In a test of the market on Tuesday, the Government of Jamaica floated a two-month treasury bond that is not only significant for its tenure but was priced at a fixed 12 per cent per annum, in line with goals of the new debt management initiative (DMI).

GOVERNMENT has essentially already secured 15 per cent of the support it will need for its planned debt exchange transaction that will involve the swapping of over $720 billion in its domestic debt for lower yielding bonds.

THE GOVERNMENT has started talks with key stakeholders in an effort to get buy-in to its medium-term economic programme and a planned debt-management scheme. The debt-management scheme will be a key component of any deal which the Government strikes with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and will involve domestic debt holders taking a cut in their interest rates.

GOVERNMENT says that the proposed US$1.3 billion standby loan facility with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is dependent on total backing from the financial sector for its $736-billion domestic debt exchange programme, which is projected to save Jamaica $40 billion during the next fiscal year.