Our Exchange Rate Over The Years

 

I decided to post the table above, showing changes in the Jamaican dollar's exchange rate against the US dollar since 1970. I did this in groups of 10 years, starting from 2025 and going back.

The Jamaican dollar (JMD) was introduced in 1969, replacing the Jamaican pound at a rate of 1 pound to 2 dollars. Britain was our colonial master. My understanding is that in the early days, the Jamaican dollar was worth more than the US dollar. Our currency then was in pounds, shillings, and pence.

We had some interesting names for the value of some of our currency in the days of pounds, shillings, and pence. A penny and a halfpenny were called a "quatty." One pound and one shilling were called a guinea. We also had a farthing, which was half of a halfpenny. I am sure there were others, but I have to depend on my readers to remind me.

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Between 1969 and the present day, the Jamaican dollar transitioned to a floating currency and depreciated significantly against the US dollar. 

Because the Jamaican dollar did not exist before 1969, there is no exchange rate for the period between 1962 and 1969. During those earlier decades, Jamaica used the Jamaican pound (tied to the British sterling) as its official legal tender.

The question is, what went wrong when we moved away from using the currency of our colonial masters to having our own currency? Our significant trading partner is the US, so when our dollar falls in relation to the US dollar, the cost of imports goes up! It is interesting to note that the rate of the Barbadian dollar to the US dollar has been two to one for several years

Exchange rate figures were obtained from the Bank of Jamaica website.

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