A number of local suppliers of goods and services have began quoting their prices as well as customers' bills in United States dollars as a direct consequence of the rapid depreciation of the local currency, especially during the past four months.
And as the local currency continues to lose value, it hit a new low yesterday, reaching an average selling rate of $65.09. On its way to the $65 mark, the dollar lost more than $4 this week, one of the largest depreciation in recent times in four days of trading. The highest selling rate of the US dollar yesterday was $69.50, while the average buying rate was $64.73.
The Canadian dollar also depreciated to an average selling rate of $47.13, while the British pound sterling reached $104.08.
The practice of quoting goods in US dollar has been most pronounced in the tourist resorts of Montego Bay, St. James and Negril in Westmoreland, but is also being practised in Kingston and St. Andrew, according to information reaching The Financial Gleaner.
However, the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ), among whose main objective is to safeguard the value of the domestic currency, said this unofficial dollarisation - the use of a foreign currency as a means of payment in the domestic economy - was not illegal.
Asked if merchants were allowed to bill customers in a foreign currency such as the US dollar, a spokesperson at the central bank said "they can, but they can't force you to pay in US dollars."
Lord & Lady, a predominantly women's garment store in the Manor Centre, St. Andrew, is among a few stores that quotes its prices solely in US dollars.
According to a manager at the store, who did not wish to be identified by name, the currency price quotation has been influenced mainly by the continued depreciation of the local currency against its United States counterpart. He said they have to buy their goods using the existing exchange rates and they have chosen not to also quote the prices in Jamaican dollars because "the rates keep changing" and it would be inefficient to keep changing the prices in Jamaican dollars each week.
A source told The Financial Gleaner that some wholesale businesses, especially in tourist resorts in western Jamaica, have also been billing retail traders in US dollars, with the indication that they could pay in Jamaican currency but at the going rate of exchange for the day. "This has implications, since other businesses could choose to do the same thing," said the source.
Among those quoting their bills in US dollars, according to the source, are suppliers of products such as cleaning agents, toiletries, computers, as well as building owners who have leased office and shop spaces in malls especially in the tourist resorts.
