DMB History – Debt Management Branch

Our Journey

On April 1, 1998, the Ministry of Finance and Planning assumed responsibility for all debt management functions previously undertaken by the Bank of Jamaica. With the exception of conducting primary market issues, including Treasury Bill auctions, and effecting external debt payments, the core debt management functions including debt policy and strategy formulation, debt-raising activities, a registrar and payment function for government securities and debt monitoring, fully resided within the Ministry.

With the return of these debt management functions to the Ministry, the mandate of the Debt Management Unit (DMU), placed in the Economic Management Division, was to raise adequate levels of financing for the budget, at minimum debt service costs. At the same time, the DMU will pursue strategies to ensure that the national public debt progresses to and is maintained at sustainable levels over the medium term.

In April 2011, in a move to strengthen the capacity and enhance the operations of the Debt Management Unit (DMU), approval was given for the restructuring of the DMU into a new entity, the Debt Management Branch (DMB). The reorganised DMB forms part of a series of comprehensive debt management reforms aimed at strengthening the effectiveness of public debt management.

In this new dispensation, along the functional lines of a Front, Middle and Back Office, the DMB will use enhanced tools to develop a comprehensive debt strategy and work closely with creditors, investors, rating agencies and policymakers to execute this strategy.

Additionally, DMB is responsible for furthering the development of the domestic market, by promoting advances in new instruments or issuance techniques, to help lower the cost of public debt management over the medium to long term.

In executing its core functions, the DMB will continue to be committed to providing high quality, cost-effective and customer friendly services through well-controlled and efficient operations and highly trained professional staff; and ensure that it conducts its operations openly and transparently, and that report(s) on the debt stock and debt flows and on the DMB’s operations are publicly available and widely disseminated.