At least three people shot dead in Haiti since Monday August 22. Violent demonstrations shake the country to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, to denounce the insecurity, the shortage of fuel and above all the explosion of prices: + 29% inflation according to the latest figures published for the month of June. And this should continue with the surge of the dollar.
The price explosion concerns everyday food products, mostly all imported into Haiti: +46% on rice, +80% on sugar, +88% on cooking oil… Inflation is accelerated by the rise of the dollar against the national currency, the gourde.
” We are an import economy: as soon as the dollar value rises, this automatically affects the prices of products in national currency, ExplainEtzer Emile, economist and university professor in Port-au-Prince. So people who earn an income in gourdes, or who have savings in gourdes, see themselves today being impoverished in relation to the depreciation of the national currency against the US dollar. »
In Haiti, the dollar has become too rare and too expensive. To increase the supply and thus try to curb the depreciation of the gourde, the Central Bank this week injected 8.5 million US dollars into the foreign exchange market. Haiti has until next summer to carry out economic reforms, in particular to fight against money laundering. Otherwise, the country could be cut off from the international financial system.
► To read also: Haiti: demonstrators against the high cost of living demand the departure of the Prime Minister