The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Tuesday said that Haiti continues to face exceptional challenges amid a deteriorating security environment and institutional fragility.
It said gang violence has intensified, undermining state authority and disrupting economic activity. Uncertainty persists over the political transition and the feasibility of holding general elections in 2026. The United Nations Security Council’s authorisation to deploy a new Gang Suppression Force (GSF) and the establishment of a United Nations Support Office for Haiti mark a potential turning point for the country, though security gains will take time to materialize and will require
international support.
In November this year, the IMF approved the second review of Haiti’s Staff-Monitored Program (SMP), including the authorities’ request for a nine-month extension of the SMP through September 19, 2026.
SMPs are informal agreements between country authorities and the IMF to monitor the implementation of the authorities’ economic programme and build a track record of policy implementation that could pave the way for financial assistance from the IMF’s upper credit tranche (UCT).
The IMF said that Haiti’s SMP is tailored to its context of acute security challenges, institutional fragility, and capacity constraints. It supports the authorities’ priorities of economic stabilization, improved governance, anticorruption, and strengthening the social safety net.
With regards to its debt, the Washington-based financial institution noted that at the end of the financial year in 2024, Haiti’s public debt reached US$3.8 billion, or 15.1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), well below the US$5.9 billion or 27.6 per cent of GDP at end the last financial year, primarily due to the cancellation of the Petrocaribe debt with Venezuela.
Haiti’s outstanding debt to Venezuela was assessed at US$28.2 million compared to US$2.2 billion at end the financial year 2023, all of which was owed to the Banco de Desarrollo Económico y Social de Venezuela (BANDES).
The IMF noted that in January 2024, Haitian and Venezuelan authorities finalised an agreement under which Haiti paid a lump sum of US$500 million to Venezuela as a portion of external ‘technical arrears’ due, in exchange for US$1.69 billion in debt forgiveness.
However, Haiti faced challenges processing payments to Venezuela for debts incurred under the Petrocaribe agreement due to international sanctions on Venezuela. This led the Haitian government to deposit the debt service payments into an escrow account.
‘The lump sum payment of US$500 million did not affect the government’s gross financing requirements, as it was executed by the BRH (fiscal agent of the government) through a combination of increase short-term liabilities and a drawdown of foreign reserves.
‘The restructuring led to a sharp decline in debt ratios: public debt fell from 27.6 per cent of GDP in financial year 2023 to 16 per cent of GDP in financial year 2024, and external debt from 12.9 per cent of GDP in financial year 2023 to 2.2 per cent of GDP in financial year 2024,’ the IMF said.
It said that the agreement also generates annual savings of US$95 million over 2025-35, freeing up resources that can be reallocated toward pro-poor and growth-enhancing spending.