The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Monday issued an one-year fixed-rate U.S.-dollar-indexed bond amid concerns over the rapid devaluation of the country's currency.

The bond will be offered at a rate of 4.75 per annum pegged at an exchange rate of 98 Jamaican dollars to one U.S. dollar, the BOJ said in a statement released on Monday.

"All payments by investors for the settlement of the initial purchase as well as principal and interest payments by the bank will be made in Jamaica dollars," it said.

At the end of trading today, one U.S. dollar was sold for an average 99.57 Jamaican dollars.

The Jamaican currency has lost about 7 percent against the greenback since the year's start, equivalent to the total depreciation in 2012.

The continuous slide triggered by high economic uncertainty, has been pushing up the cost of goods and services, with inflation rate soaring to 9 percent by the end of the just concluded 2013 fiscal year. Endi

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