Five international financial entities have jointly assembled a comprehensive package of up to US$6.7 billion over three years to strengthen Jamaica’s recovery and reconstruction efforts following the passage of hurricane Melissa.
The International Monetary Fund, (IMF) which is one of the entities made the announcement today.
The other entities are the CAF Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB) group and the World Bank Group (WBG).
In a release on its website, the IMF said the package was assembled following hurricane Melissa and at the request of Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness.
The IMF said damage from the category 5 hurricane is estimated at US$8.8 billion.
It noted that the coordinated effort reflects a unified commitment to help Jamaica pursue a fiscally responsible, long-term recovery through a combination of emergency preparedness financing, sovereign financing, grant support and private sector investments.
The announcement comes ahead of the call Prime Minister Holness will hold with representatives from the international financial institutions to discuss implementation plans.
The IMF has highlighted that Jamaica’s robust disaster risk financing framework enabled a rapid flow of funds to meet urgent response needs.
This framework facilitated an immediate inflow of critical liquidity to supplement the government’s own contingency resources, for a total of US$662 million.
The IMF said of that amount, US$37 million is from the government’s contingency fund and national natural disaster reserve fund and US$91 million from the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF).
Additionally, US$150 million is from the catastrophe bond with the World Bank, US$300 million from the IDB’s Contingent Credit Facility (CCF) and US$42 million scalable to US$84 million is available upon request under the World Bank Group’s Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option.
The IMF said with Jamaica’s over US$8 billion damage bill, recovery will require significant resources and long-term investments.
Comprehensive recovery planning is already underway, focusing on critical priorities and reinforcing Jamaica’s resilience.
The 5 entities are working closely with the government and other partners to support this process.
To that end, it said a new financial support package of up to US$3.6 billion could be made available to finance the government’s recovery and reconstruction program over the next three years.
To ensure Jamaica’s recovery is effective, resilient, and informed by global best practices, the five institutions are also providing technical assistance and policy advisory services —funded by grants—that draw on global experience and best practices in disaster response.
So far, US$12 million in grants has already been mobilized from the IDB, the WBG and CAF, with more to come.
According to the IMF, together, IDB invest and the world bank group’s international finance corporation and multilateral investment guarantee agency are actively working to attract and mobilize an initial estimate of US$2.4 billion in private investment to support Jamaica’s recovery and reconstruction—split equally between the IDB group and the World Bank group.
The world bank group, CAF, CDB, IDB group, and IMF say they remain committed to ensuring that Jamaica’s recovery is grounded in a comprehensive and collaborative approach that leverages both international partnership and private sector engagement.
They said by combining robust financial instruments, technical guidance, and a shared commitment to building forward better, Jamaica is well-positioned not only to restore what was lost but also to strengthen its resilience to future disasters.
