KINGSTON, Jamaica – Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Governor, Richard Byles, has underscored the pivotal role of multilateral partnerships in driving the country’s economic achievements over the past 15 years.

He highlighted notable collaborations with stakeholder interests such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Centre for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA), European Union (EU), Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the French Development Agency.

These entities have been key partners in providing funding, technical advice and capacity-building programmes Byles noted, while addressing members of the Diplomatic Corps at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in downtown Kingston on Monday.

He emphasised the importance of these programmes in enhancing the stability of Jamaica’s financial system, implementing inflation targeting, macroeconomic modelling and planning, financial market operations and financial sector supervision.

Byles also acknowledged the multifaceted bilateral support Jamaica has received from various countries, including the United States of America (USA), People’s Republic of China, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Cuba and South Africa.

He pointed out that their support has been instrumental in stimulating economic growth, engendering economic resilience to shocks, improving governance, developing infrastructure, and fostering improvements in health, trade, investment, education and climate-change initiatives.

“Jamaica’s progress towards economic stability over the past 15 years would not have been possible without the support of our multilateral lending partners as well as bilateral support from many country partners,” the governor stated.

Byles also underscored the BOJ’s commitment to integrating climate-risk considerations into its supervisory framework, noting that “Jamaica, as a small Caribbean island nation, is increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change”.

He highlighted the central bank’s work in publishing papers on climate-risk integration with grant support from the French Development Agency.

Byles further noted the BOJ’s plans to undertake its own climate-risk disclosures.

“We intend to develop our capacity, both human and data-related, to undertake climate-risk stress testing for the financial system,” he indicated, while emphasising that proactive steps are being taken to bolster resilience against natural hazards.

Meanwhile, Byles reiterated the BOJ’s commitment to overcoming challenges and seizing opportunities through continued dialogue and international economic cooperation.

“We at Bank of Jamaica appreciate this kind of exchange to improve international economic cooperation and welcome continued dialogue with the diplomatic community as we work to overcome the challenges, and seize the opportunities now and in the future,” he said.

Monday’s event formed part of activities marking Diplomatic Week 2025 under the theme ‘Building Partnerships for Sustainable Development’.

–         JIS