Port-au-Prince, October 27, 2025.- The Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) sounds alarmed at the dangers of the double circulation of money between the gourd and the US dollar. In his report « Double money circulation: risk identification »It stresses that this partial dollarization weakens monetary policy, increases the depreciation of the gourd and threatens the country's financial stability.
Structural dependence
HRB attributes this situation to a series of imbalances: political instability, high inflation, open trade and strong dependence on diaspora transfers, which account for about 17% of GDP. These factors have prompted economic actors to favour the dollar as a currency of confidence, used for transactions, deposits and sometimes wages.
Heavy consequences
Dollarization reduces the ability of HRB to control the money supply and weakens the financial system. By 2024, nearly 66 per cent of bank deposits were in dollars, limiting the central bank's policy space. Gourdes and dollar debt also expose households to high credit risk.
Towards a stronger gourd
To reverse the trend, BRH encourages gradual de-dollarization: gourd payments, ban on consumer loans in foreign currency and bonds in local currency. But it recalls that success will depend primarily on political stability and the return of confidence in the gourde.
W.A.
