“It’s ironic to see a country, in the space of two years, manage to rack up 1.”
“It’s ironic to see a country, in just two years, manage to accumulate 1.4 billion dollars in gross reserves. That’s a problem. Why not spend these reserves? It’s really ironic, if I can put it that way,” lamented Pierre-Marie Boisson on the show “Wi, Ayiti kapab,” aired last week, who would have preferred that this money be used for renovating the urban area of Cap-Haitien.
Like Governor Ronald Gabriel, economist Pierre-Marie Boisson pointed out that the country’s gross reserves represented more than seven months of imports. But he doesn’t see why these reserves aren’t being used. “Why keep this money? To stabilize the exchange rate,” said Boisson. “Wouldn’t it be better to have a stable exchange rate instead of having investments in Cap-Haitien, in Les Cayes, and urban renovations?” wondered Pierre-Marie Boisson.With urban renovations, it will be possible to allow cities to have many attractions, according to the economist. For him, these renovations will indeed be important incentives to build hotels and entertainment venues. Without a shadow of a doubt, Mr. Boisson sees tourism as a sector full of potential that should be relied on to develop the national economy. By prioritizing tourism, he would simultaneously boost related industries like music, art, crafts, cuisine, and urban infrastructure.
However, economist Pierre-Marie Boisson used figures to talk about net international currency reserves and gross reserves, and these figures turn out to be significantly lower than those reported by the BRH during its last press conference on July 21, 2026, at its offices.In this press conference of the Board of Directors of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) on recent macroeconomic developments and economic prospects, Governor Ronald Gabriel unveiled some economic indicators, including net international foreign exchange reserves and gross reserves. He explained the reasons behind such accumulations being above the required three-month import threshold.
“Net international foreign exchange reserves amounted to $1.9 billion last May. As for gross reserves, they are around $3.5 billion, which is equivalent to eight months of imports. According to the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in this regard, gross reserves should be equivalent to three months of import availability to withstand shocks at the balance of payments level,” the bank governor said proudly.
