Country profile · Issue No. 01 · May 2026
Jamaica.
JAMJamaica’s row in the Caribbean Debt Tracker. Five metrics, the stated fiscal anchor, current IMF engagement, and the primary sources behind every figure. Last verified 2026-05-02.
- Debt to GDP
- 65.8%
- Primary balance
- +5.2%
- Real GDP growth
- -1.2%
as of 2026
% of GDP
2026 projection
Fiscal anchor
Public debt to 60% of GDP by FY2027/28 (Public Debt Management Act); primary surplus floor under the Fiscal Responsibility Law.
IMF programme status
No active programme; PLL precautionary line history
Notes
IMF staff project a primary surplus of 5.2% of GDP for FY2025/26 (May 2025 Article IV), which on the pre-storm trajectory would have brought public debt toward 65% of GDP by year-end — the lowest level in 25 years. Hurricane Melissa (Category 5, October 2025), with reconstruction costs estimated near 41% of GDP, reset the trajectory: the IMF World Economic Outlook (April 2026) now puts general government debt at 65.8% of GDP in 2026 and projects real GDP to contract by 1.2% in 2026 (from a positive 2025) before returning to growth. The earlier IMF F&D commentary projected debt nearer 68%; the WEO figure is the more current and is used here.
Sources
Last verified · 2026-05-02
- IMF Country Report 25/146 — Jamaica 2025 Article IV staff report
- IMF Press Release 25/219 — Jamaica Article IV, 25 June 2025
- IMF Staff Concluding Statement, Jamaica Article IV, 8 May 2025
- IMF Finance & Development, March 2026 — "Debt Reduction Lessons from Jamaica"
- IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2026
- IMF DataMapper — Jamaica country profile (corroborating series)
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Read the full Tracker.
The same five metrics across the Caribbean Community, with the regional aggregate panel and the methodology. Refreshed against each new IMF World Economic Outlook release. Issue No. 02 follows the October 2026 (post the IMF WEO autumn release).