He’s been speaking out about this for over two years, saying that harm is being done to the recipients of diaspora transfers who get their money in gourdes.
This is what he has been denouncing for over two years, considering that harm is being done to recipients of diaspora transfers who receive their money in gourdes. Pierre-Marie Boisson advocated for an adjustment of the exchange rate to 160 gourdes per US dollar during his participation in the weekly show, “Wi, Ayiti Kapab,” broadcast on the YouTube platform.
“Instead of giving 130 gourdes per dollar to someone receiving transfers, the Central Bank arranges to give them 160, 170, 200 gourdes. Automatically, the reference rate will change and the 80% of Haitian families who live off transfers will get 30 more gourdes. That’s an increase of over 20%,” said Pierre-Marie Boisson, noting that although this increase is significant, it would not make up for all the delays.This adjustment will be beneficial not only to the recipients of transfers, according to Mr. Boisson, but also to farmers, exporters, and the government. “These additional incomes generated by a simple change in parity, if not immediately spent on extra expenses, will lead to a budget surplus. That is, the budget surplus will allow the government to absorb the increase in the money supply that occurred when people’s incomes rise,” said Pierre-Marie Boisson.“There’s going to be an immediate slowdown in inflation. What we should expect as the end result is a redistribution of income towards the poor, farmers, and exporters,” he continued.
As an example, Mr. Boisson pointed out that this had already happened in the 14 countries of the West and Central African Monetary Zone in 1994. “Those countries doubled their exchange rate, which went from 50 CFA francs per French franc to 100 CFA francs in one day. They froze the money supply by running a budget surplus, which curbed inflation caused by monetary factors,” said the chief economist of the Sogebank Group, noting that when Côte d’Ivoire decided to double its exchange rate in January 1994, it has since become one of the countries with the lowest inflation in the world (2.8% per year). He also referred to Mexico, which, according to him, had devalued its exchange rate.For Mr. Boisson, the exchange rate currently used in the country is not without consequences. “There are gourdes that are insufficient to provide incomes that keep up with inflation. Since inflation is higher in Haiti than in neighboring countries, it leads to the impoverishment of agriculture, exports, transfer recipients, and the state. This is a well-known economic issue called the ‘Dutch disease.’ It’s the biggest problem that can hit a country. I experienced it in Ivory Coast. There’s only one cure for this disease: adjusting the exchange rate,” suggested Pierre-Marie Boisson.
Given the rise in prices in the economy over the past three years, Pierre-Marie Boisson is against the idea of paying remittances in gourdes using the lowest exchange rate on the market. “About 80% of Haitian families’ purchasing power comes from abroad, meaning, from remittances without any counterpart. Prices have doubled in the Haitian economy over the last three years. Remittance recipients receive the same amount of gourdes, but prices keep going up. They should benefit from an exchange rate increase of around 20% or even 25%,” Pierre-Marie Boisson said.
