IMF and Haiti Conclude Virtual Mission on the Third Review Staff-Monitored Program
IMF News, April 6, 2026
Source details
- Canonical URL
- IMF and Haiti Conclude Virtual Mission on the Third Review Staff-Monitored Program
Other formats
Bibliographic details
- Published: April 6, 2026
Mission overview
- Mission dates: March 23 to April 1st, 2026.
- Mission leader: Mr. Camilo E. Tovar.
- Objective: assess progress under Haiti’s Third Review Staff‑Monitored Program (SMP).
- SMP nature: informal agreement between IMF staff and the member to monitor the economic program; SMP Staff reports are issued to the Board for information and do not entail endorsement by the IMF Executive Board.
- Haitian authorities requested an SMP extension until June 19, 2027.
- Engagement continues through the high-level SMP Monitoring Committee and further staff engagement over the coming weeks.
Program performance and key statistics (end-December 2025 and FY2026)
- All program targets were met at end-December 2025, including:
- international reserves accumulation,
- primary balance,
- revenue collection,
- monetary financing,
- social spending.
- Net international reserves: USD 1.76 billion in December 2025.
- Gross international reserves projected: about US$3.4 billion at end FY2026—over seven months of prospective imports of goods and services.
- Inflation: reached 22.1 percent year-on-year after peaking at about 32 percent year at end FY2025; expected to remain elevated.
- Real GDP: contracted for a seventh consecutive year in FY2025.
- Current account: expected to remain broadly balanced in FY2026.
- Fiscal and financial indicators: non‑performing loan ratios improved amid financial disintermediation; capital adequacy ratios remain well above regulatory minimums.
Macroeconomic context and shocks
- Security and political environment: persistent insecurity, political fragility, and an ongoing fragile political transition that would allow the country to organize elections later this year—the first in a decade.
- Recent shocks affecting outlook:
- oil price shock stemming from the war in the Middle East, significantly raising the fuel import bill and implicit subsidy cost;
- Hurricane Melissa in October 2025, which disrupted economic activity and exacerbated humanitarian needs.
- Remittances: described as strong, partly offsetting external pressures, but subject to uncertainty surrounding the potential extension of Haitian’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in the United States.
- Risks: tilted to the downside—further deterioration in security, persistently higher global oil prices, potential shifts in foreign immigration policies that could slow remittance inflows. Upside possibility: deployment of the Gang Suppression Force supported by the United Nations Support Office for Haiti.
Reform implementation: progress and constraints
- Overall: reform implementation has advanced, though progress has been slower than anticipated in some areas due to challenging security conditions, capacity constraints, and political uncertainty.
- Areas of advancement and planned actions:
- Governance and integrity: reforms anchored in the Governance Diagnostic Report to improve transparency, management of public finances, safeguards in revenue administration, and mechanisms to deter and address corruption, organized crime, and illicit financial activities.
- Anti‑money laundering / counter‑financing of terrorism: publication of the national risk assessment and closing remaining gaps to support exit from the FATF grey list.
- Revenue mobilization: accelerate tax and customs administration reforms, operationalize the new tax code, strengthen digital infrastructure, improve compliance (particularly among large taxpayers).
- Fuel pricing: authorities increased domestic fuel prices at the pump; IMF staff welcomes a new decree creating a more predictable framework for domestic fuel price setting and stresses the need for a well-prepared communication strategy.
- Budget execution: need for stronger cash management, tighter commitment controls, and better preparation and prioritization of public investment projects; priority to direct limited resources to social, humanitarian, and security spending.
- Central bank (BRH): consolidate policy framework and credibility; adoption of a new reserve management framework with updated investment policies and guidelines.
- Financial sector supervision: progress on risk‑based banking supervision, rollout of on‑site inspections, enhancements to off‑site monitoring, operationalizing new supervisory framework, integrating risk‑assessment tools, finalizing a new chart of accounts for financial institutions.
- Data and safeguards: FY2023 BRH financial statements audited and published; work started on FY2024 audit; continued implementation of safeguards assessment recommendations; advances on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity template and external sector statistics; continued alignment of government finance statistics and financial soundness indicators with international methodologies.
Policy recommendations and program priorities
- Use of buffers: authorities encouraged to deploy accumulated buffers to mitigate shocks, preserve macroeconomic stability, and protect the most vulnerable.
- Prioritize spending: safeguard support for the most vulnerable while prioritizing expenditures amid limited fiscal space.
- Protect fiscal position: accelerate revenue reforms and digitalization, improve compliance, and harness the fuel price framework to reduce foregone revenues from oil price shock.
- Social protection: leverage remaining resources from the IMF 2023 Food Shock Window to protect vulnerable households.
- Budget execution reforms: implement stronger cash management, commitment controls, and better public investment project preparation to improve spending efficiency and delivery of public assistance.
- Central bank credibility: maintain commitment to price and exchange rate stability as nominal anchor; continue prudent reserve accumulation.
- External financing: external support should be provided primarily in the form of grants rather than non‑concessional borrowing; accompany donor‑financed operations with rigorous appraisal and transparency requirements to safeguard the public sector balance sheet.
- Development partner collaboration: IMF staff will continue to collaborate closely with Haiti’s main development partners, particularly on governance and strengthening institutional capacity, in line with the Fund Strategy for Fragile and Conflict‑Affected States.
Engagement and next steps
- Authorities reaffirmed commitment to the SMP and requested extension until June 19, 2027 to anchor macroeconomic stability and maintain the reform agenda.
- IMF staff met with Minister of Economy and Finance Mr. Serge Gabriel Collin, Governor of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti Mr. Ronald Gabriel, and other senior officials.
- IMF staff expresses gratitude to Haitian authorities for strong cooperation and constructive discussions; engagement will continue over the coming weeks.
International Monetary Fund — Press Release No. 26/108, April 6, 2026