Jamaica’s economic recovery from Hurricane Melissa is now expected to take significantly longer than first anticipated, with the Bank of Jamaica indicating that the damage caused by the October storm has reduced the country’s long-term productive capacity and will weigh on growth for up to four years. The revised assessment, outlined in minutes from the central bank’s December policy meeting, has important implications for housing, construction, and the wider real estate landscape.
The updated outlook marks a shift from earlier expectations that the economy would stabilise within two to three years. Policymakers now expect recovery to extend over a three- to four-year period, reflecting evidence that the hurricane inflicted lasting damage on capital assets, labour availability, and productivity rather than causing only a short-term disruption.
From a real estate and development perspective, this matters because prolonged economic weakness tends to reshape demand for housing, delay inves…
