What are we funding?
GRANT AMOUNT | ENDORSEMENT DATE | ACTIVITIES | INSTRUMENTS SUPPORTED | WB PROJECT |
US$16.365 million | October 15, 2019 | Optimizing risk layering by adding a CAT bond to the existing portfolio of disaster risk finance instruments. |
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Approved on June 23, 2021 |
- In 2016, Jamaica was one of 16 countries in the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) regional risk pool that benefited from the World Bank’s first CAT bond, and the country has continued to collaborate with the World Bank on its DRF agenda. In 2021, Jamaica issued its National Natural Disaster Risk Financing Policy 2021–2026, which introduced a comprehensive and layered DRF approach that built on the multiple financial instruments the country already had in place: contingent funds, contingent credit lines, and insurance coverage provided by CCRIF.
- Jamaica used a US$16,365,000 million GSFF grant to successfully expand its portfolio of DRF instruments, issuing a CAT bond that provided the country with US$185 million in coverage against tropical cyclone winds for three hurricane seasons. Jamaica is the first small island state to independently sponsor a CAT bond.
- In April 2024, Jamaica chose to renew the CAT bond, covering the majority of the costs for renewal from its own budget. The renewed CAT bond will provide US$150 million in coverage over the next four hurricane season