News & Current Affairs, CARICOM Affairs - Friday, May 15, 2009 0:11
Jamaica introduces $5,000 note, worth US$55
By Antillean,
With the JA$1000 note now worth US$11, the BOJ is set to release a new JA$5,000
note (US$55) into circulation on Monday
The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) today confirmed speculations that a new note – denominated JA $5,000 – will be introduced from Monday, May 18, 2009 (photo at the end of this post).
As Jamaica’s economy sees a high debt burden, rising inflation and a falloff in exports, the value of the Jamaica dollar has plummeted, such that even this new bill will only be worth US$55 at the current exchange rate.
Jamaica’s long-standing highest denominated bill was JA$1,000, now worth less than US$12.
Early reaction out of the island suggests that an overwhelming majority of Jamaicans are against the introduction of the new note.
Comments on the Jamaica Gleaner blog have drawn comparisons between Jamaica and Zimbabwe, with (unfounded?) speculation that the country will soon be returning to the International Monetary Fund. Others seem to have resigned themselves to waiting for a subsequent announcement: that of a JA$10,000 bill. Says one commentator, with the highest US dollar note being the $100 greenback, a JA$5,000 bill is “just the tip of the iceberg”.
New note features late Prime Minister Hugh Shearer

Meanwhile, the Bank of Jamaica has not given any official rationale for the introduction of the new note, and the media is actually downplaying speculation that that the introduction of the note has anything to do with the state of the economy or an immediate demand for a bigger note to store value. In fact, the Gleaner even suggests that the move was ‘more likely driven by a wish to celebrate the life of Hugh Shearer’ – an assumption they likely made due to the fact that the note’s launch on May 18 will also be Shearer’s birthday.
What the Gleaner did not mention however is that the value of the JA$1,000 has plummeted by fifty percent since it was launched eight years ago: in 2001, when the JA$-US$ exchange rate was 44.8:1, the $1000 note was worth US$22 – now, it is worth just US$11.2. When governments want to celebrate a former leader they launch stamps – when governments launch a $5,000 note, there is nothing to celebrate.
The Government of Jamaica under Finance Minister Audley Shaw presented its budget on April 23rd, announcing a range of much-protested taxes aimed at meeting a shortfall in the government’s revenue.
On the same day that Jamaica launches its new note, the Government of Barbados will also present its budget, which comes on the heels of a dire warning by Standard & Poor’s that Barbados’ 2:1 peg to the U.S. dollar is also in jeopardy, given government’s debt and spending. In addition, Moody’s is also considering downgrading Barbados’ ratings over its increasing debt.
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6 Comments
Jamaica introduces $5,000 note, worth US$55 from Texas, United States
Dexroy Martin from Saint Andrew, Jamaica
I feel poore by the day. $5000 note – I cant see why. However, while Michael Manley on the $1000.00 can be justified, Hugh Shearer cannot be. He should never have had the edge over Bob Marley and Louise Bennett. Furthermore, we have people like Paul Bogle who is on money that dont even count – and he is a national hero. Mary Seacole also, while less known, served her country well. Hugh Shearer and any other Prime Minister is undeserving of this honour while you have these other people not so honoured. Besides, for Tourism purposes, it would have been good to have Bob Marley on the note…Foreigners would just by it to have Bob.
Jamaica Forum from Massachusetts, United States
I can imagine some of the smaller shops and vendors will take issue with the new $5000 bill when it is released. I have a hard enough time getting some of the really small shops to take a $1000 bill, I can’t imagine how they will react to the $5000 one!
I agree with Dexroy’s comment about having Bob Marley on the $5000 bill! Foreigners would collect them as keepsakes!
Noel Brown from Ontario, Canada
The only good news here is the justification that Shearer is worth more than Manley who is responsible for destroying the Country in the first place
Kavita M. from Saint Michael, Barbados
noel, can you explain how manley destroyed jamaica? i am not jamaican, but i hear a few jamaicans saying this all the time. and then, i hear another group of jamaicans defend him. what’s the real story?
and to the other poster, the justification is that shearer is a national hero and was next in line for a bill. is bob marley a national hero?
Waytoosmootheforyou from Saint Andrew, Jamaica
I believe that the issue of the new $5000 note is just a way of side tracking, or distracting us of the real problems that faces us as jamaicans, such as the economic reality that is affecting everyone, here and the rest of the world.
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[...] News Sources wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptWith the JA$1000 note now worth US$27, the BOJ is set to release a new JA$5,000 note (US$55) into circulation on Monday The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) today confirmed speculations that a new note – denominated JA $5,000 – will be introduced from Monday, May 18, 2009. As Jamaica’s economy sees a high debt burden, rising inflation and a falloff in exports, the value of the Jamaica dollar has plummeted, such that even this new bill will only be worth US$55 at the current exchange r [...]