practically no changes in the interest rates paid on these deposits. in terms of loan rates, deposit - taking institution's weighted average loan rates actually declined by 14 bps during the period september 2021 a€ “ october 2022. to facilitate greater transparency around the issue of deposit rates, the bank recently began publishing in the newspapers, detailed data on interest rates paid by all commercial banks on savings accounts, demand deposits and time deposits. the publication of this data is an initiative of bank of jamaica aimedat encouraging the public to act in an informed manner by moving their deposits to the commercial banks where they can benefit from higher deposit rates. notwithstanding the slow responses to date, but appreciating that it takes time for policy signals to have an effect, the monetary policy committee of bank of jamaica judged that it might be appropriate at this time to pause further rate increases. this pause is conditional on : 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches commercial banks deposit rates and loan rates moving higher ; core inflation not continuing to increase ; and the us federal reserve not exceeding its projected rate increases for 2022 and 2023. looking ahead, bank of jamaica expects that, consistent with consensus forecast for a fall in commodity prices and the bank's overall monetary policy stance, inflation is projected to decline to single digits in early 2023 and return to the 4 % to 6 % target range by december 2023. bank of jamaica recognizes that our monetary policy actions to bring inflation back to its target will not be painless to all jamaicans. however, the bank is cognizant that the greatest pain of all is the adverse impact of high and unpredictable inflation on the ability of our working population and the most vulnerable members of society to afford the basic necessities of food, transportation and housing and on stable long - term economic growth. in this regard, bank of jamaica reaffirms its commitment to doing all it can to achieve its primary mandate of returning inflation to the 4 % - 6 % corridor without causing undue harm to employment and economic growth. again, i thank you for the opportunity to report on the monetary policy mandate and actions of the central bank. 1 over the period 01 july to 09 december 2022, the exchange rate appreciated by 0. 8 per cent ( $ 1. 28 ) to j $ 154. 34 = us $ 1. 00. this was in contrast to a depreciation of 7. 4 per cent ( $ 10. 67 ) over the corresponding period of

government or boj to " do something ", meaning " sell more us dollars " or " stabilise the rate ". predictably, the exchange rate went above j $ 131. 00 again despite increases in bank of jamaica's preannounced interventions, the government's one - month notice to prepay us $ 500 million in bonds to the local market and, similar to the may episode, indications that us dollar supply was in fact adequate. yet again, someone paid a heavy price for their bad decisions as the exchange rate has once more fallen below j $ 129. 00. how has the economy changed? given jamaica's history of prolonged and sustained foreign currency shortages, we have become accustomed to the " dollar slide " rhetoric even in a context where, for the 12 months to 13 october this year, the exchange rate appreciated by 0. 4 per cent, compared with a depreciation of 7. 7 per cent for the same period a year before. as of yesterday, the exchange rate, at j $ 127. 97, has in fact strengthened by 0. 5 per cent for the fiscal year to date. some slide. in the first half of fy2017 / 18, the jamaican dollar depreciated on 60 days and appreciated on 66 days. over the same period in the last fiscal year, the currency 2 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches depreciated on 104 days and appreciated on only 25 days. clearly, we have moved away from a chronic one - way market to a more normal and more flexible market characterised by two way movements. for nearly two years now, the bank has steadfastly explained to a sceptical public that the jamaican dollar is fairly valued but the dollar slide rhetoric, dogma and fearmongering have drowned out this message. i would like to be quite clear about this : whenever the exchange rate is in a zone that is consistent with our overall economic performance relative to our trading partners, and particularly when our national earnings in foreign currency approximate our national spending, then the exchange rate is fairly valued. it will, however, fluctuate around this level as demand and supply change from day to day and from month to month. this will include changes in perception as well as real changes that are happening on the ground. signs that our foreign currency earnings are adequate have been evident for the last two fiscal years during which the current account of the balance of payments has recorded a deficit of less than