IT TOOK an average of $50.03 to buy US$1 in foreign exchange trading yesterday.
This was the first time the Bank of Jamaica's (BoJ) weighted average exchange rate had breached the J$50 to US$1 barrier. This is the result of a drop in the value of the local currency only briefly halted by BoJ intervention last week.
"It is a psychological barrier for persons who are not involved in the market," said Chebiche Campbell, assistant manager of foreign exchange trading at Pan Caribbean Merchant Bank. "I saw this coming."
A fall in the value of the currency was halted when the BoJ intervened last week Thursday and Friday, selling foreign currency into the market at a rate of J$49.88 to the US dollar.
There has been no intervention so far this week, Miss Campbell said. The US dollar, which previously sold for a high of J$50.05, was sold for as much as J$50.20 in trading yesterday.
