Remittances from the diaspora to Haiti will increase by 28% compared to last year, according to statements made by the Governor of the Haitian Central Bank, Jean-Baden Dubois, during an interview on the program “Rendez-vous économique” hosted by economist Kesner Pharel on Radio-Télé Métropole on September 5, 2021.
Last year (2020), the amount of remittances sent by the Haitian diaspora was estimated at 2.97 billion dollars. A growth of 28% would therefore be equivalent to approximately $4 billion in remittances to Haiti for the current year. This is the highest level of remittances to Haiti in history.
For the governor of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH), this announcement is a good thing insofar as he views this money to reinvest it in a beneficial way in the country. However, on the other hand, Jean-Baden Dubois recognizes that these transfers can just as easily lead to unfortunate consequences for the economy if they continue to be used as in the past to buy imported products or to construct non-seismic buildings that, at the slightest disaster, go up in smoke or collapse like houses of cards.
The announcement of an increase in remittances to the country can only be considered bittersweet when we know the decline that external aid has experienced in recent years. In the current economic growth stagnation of the country for years, remittances from the diaspora can remain the lifeline that nationals can rely on to allow the economy to breathe.
