The Economic Crime of Currency Speculation in Jamaica
“The Jamaican dollar which started the year at $114.66 to the US dollar has so far lost nearly 2 percent, with inflation at roughly zero, the currency has gained a bit in competitiveness this year as well as since October last year with negative inflation between then and December.” – IC INSIDER.COM
The only way to make money in Jamaica’s Foreign Exchange Market is through the constant devaluation of the Jamaican dollar ($JA) against the US dollar ($US).
It only stands to reason that in a speculative market there is no future parity or hopes of having a strong $JA as Jamaican investors find it is far more lucrative to invest in foreign currency trading than to invest some US$10.3 billion annual (total value of currency trading per year) in the productive capacity of the nation in terms of energy, manufacturing and infrastructure investments.
Without a change in this economic trajectory, we will never be able to pay off our IMF loans or repay the Chinese as constant devaluation invariably increases the cost and size of our national debt.
The volume of currency trading is greater than the average annual take home income of the Jamaican workers by 68% as the currency investment dealers are earning an average of five (5) time the average hard currency inflows annually from remittance which should have been reinvested in the development of our economic base but rather invested in a sector of the economy with little or no productive value to the economy as a whole since only a few wealthy Jamaican can participate in currency trading.
Unless there is radical reform to our financial markets like pegging the Jamaican Dollar t to the US dollar the economy will be like a sinking cargo ship loaded with tons of debt and the Jamaican people will become chattel slaves for another 300 years or more.
