JAMAICA, July 18 (Reuters) – The Jamaican government is paying a visit to Washington on Thursday to try and resolve a debt dispute between the United States and a central African nation over the Jamaican dollar.
The Jamaican currency has lost some of its value in the global economic downturn, but is still worth about US$3 trillion.
The government says it will send the bills to Washington in the hope that they will help ease the mounting debt burden.
The deal, signed by President Mike Tobin and Treasury Secretary Michael Johnson, was reached over the weekend.
The two sides had been at loggerheads over the price of oil, which has plunged from $114 per barrel in January to below $70 per barrel today.
Johnson’s office said it would send the $3 billion bill to Washington for exchange.
Tobin’s office, however, said it will not send the money unless the United Kingdom agrees to pay the amount owed.
The $3 bill is the second largest foreign currency in the world.
It is also worth more than $60 billion in the United Arab Emirates.