IMF Staff Country Reports

The 2025 Article IV Consultation highlights that over the last decade, Jamaica has established an enviable track record of investing in institutions and prioritizing macroeconomic stability which allowed it meet recent shocks and natural disasters in an agile, prudent, and growth-supportive manner. The continued reforms will increase resilience to future shocks and natural disasters. They need to combine with a multipronged approach to overcome supply-side constraints to growth in support of growth. A multipronged approach is required to overcome supply-side constraints to growth. Current policies have strengthened Jamaica’s resilience to adverse shocks (as evidenced by the impact of the Beryl/Raphael storms). Policy reforms to bolster the credibility and efficiency of Jamaica’s fiscal and monetary policy frameworks, strengthen financial stability, and support growth would deepen this resilience. Such reforms include adoption of an operational debt anchor, improving effectiveness of monetary transmission mechanism, deepening and developing of foreign exchange markets and advancing the reforms for financial stability. Low productivity resulting from the misallocation of resources is amplified by structural impediments including high crime, barriers to competition, poor educational outcomes, inadequate infrastructure, and barriers to trade.