72 Gourdes for 1 U.S. Dollar in Haiti, record low for the Haitian currency compared to the Dollar

According to Le Nouvelliste, this is the first time the Haitian gourde is so inferior to the US currency. The worst is that the authorities seem overwhelmed by the events, the newspaper said.

One can understand why this is happening.

Les produits de première nécessité

Haiti imports most of its staple products (what Haitians call produits de première nécessité) from foreign countries like the United States and the neighboring Dominican Republic. In order to buy those staple products, Haitians must first exchange the Haitian currency (gourde) for these other currencies (i.e. the U.S. Dollar / the Dominican Peso).

Haitian Money - Why has the Haitian currency depreciated so much in value?

Did you know? Dominican wholesalers selling products to Haitians at the border prefer to sell in U.S. Dollars instead of their native peso. This is another factor that is putting more stress on the Haitian gourde compared to the U.S. Dollar.

Most of the US Dollars coming into Haiti are leaving the country through the Dominican Republic

The article on Le Nouvelliste talks about the Haitian government injecting millions of U.S. dollars into the market as a fix. My opinion, NOTHING will fix this problem until Haiti begins to manufacture the products haitians consume everyday.

Can you believe this? Rice, toothpaste, tomato paste, evaporated milk, cheap rum, butter, spaghetti, macaroni, ketchup, cooking oil, beauty products, paper products, and everything else Haitians use everyday of their lives is imported. Yes, even if it has some funky Haitian name, it is manufactured elsewhere and imported for consumption in Haiti

What do you think about that?

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