The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has called for answers over the missed inflation target.

The Bank of Jamaica announced that the annual inflation rate at December 2018 fell to 2.4% breaching the bank’s target of 4.6%.

This is the second time this fiscal year that Jamaica has missed the inflation target.

This has triggered the requirement to consult with the staff of the International Monetary Fund on the deviation from the programmes inflation target.

A release from the BOJ stated that a lower inflation rate may be associated with weakness in the economy.

This comes after reports over the past two weeks of a severe shortage of foreign exchange in the local foreign exchange market.

The weighted average rate of the accepted bids was JA $133 to US $1.

The Opposition has called on the government to explain why the foreign exchange market has been experiencing a major supply shortfall in the height of the tourist season.

The Opposition also called on the BOJ to explain whether this kind of repeating exchange rate volatility is what Jamaica can expect from the new policy of inflation targeting.