Former Minister of Education and Chairman of the Global Partnership for Education's Ethics Committee Nesmy Manigat and the renowned Haitian Economist Kesner Pharel agree on the need to eliminate the fuel subsidy in Haiti in order to liberalize their price and obtain sufficient tax revenues to partially offset the government deficit that deprives the state of more than 100 billion Gourdes [fiscal year 2018-2019, including last quarter estimate] https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28029-haiti-flash-the-government-could-not-pay-its-civil-servants-in-may.html

The two men said Haiti needed deep structural reform that would increase tax revenues to balance public finances and cover the basic needs of the less favored sectors of society, stressing, "It is almost impossible to cover basic needs of the population and invest in infrastructure with a small budget like the one we have."

By way of comparison, Nesmy Manigat indicates that Haiti's annual budget was three times lower than that allocated to the Dominican Republic's Ministry of Education alone, but that the public deficit in Haiti could be offset if fuel prices were adjusted at the pump and clear investment funds and to strengthen other public services including education [Note HL : This also assumes that the Government stops paying more than $ 200 million in subsidies to the State-owned company Haiti Electricity (EDH) to partially offset its annual deficit https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27152-haiti-flash-towards-the-end-of-subsidies-to-edh.html ] recalling that in the neighboring Republic "a system of adjustment of weekly fuel prices has been adopted, which makes it possible to offset part of the public deficit of this country."

Economist Kesner Pharel added that in Haiti, it was necessary to adopt urgent economic stabilization measures as part of an expanded mechanism agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-27497-icihaiti-economy-postponement-of-the-deadline-of-the-imf-s-$229m-loan.html underlining that the socio-political crisis had generated an economic crisis in the country "It is impossible to govern Haiti with so few resources. Political instability does not help us." https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27869-haiti-economy-the-government-is-no-longer-able-to-pay-its-debts-to-oil-companies.html

The two men deplore that since 2011, Haiti could not exceed 2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while the World Bank indicates in its latest report "Global Economic Prospects" published last June, https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-28067-icihaiti-economy-the-world-bank-sends-a-very-bad-signal-for-the-economy-of-haiti.html that the growth of the Haitian economy could have risen to as little as 0.4% in 2019.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28291-haiti-economy-customs-revenue-down.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-28067-icihaiti-economy-the-world-bank-sends-a-very-bad-signal-for-the-economy-of-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28029-haiti-flash-the-government-could-not-pay-its-civil-servants-in-may.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28015-haiti-flash-economic-growth-collapses-all-indicators-are-in-the-red.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27869-haiti-economy-the-government-is-no-longer-able-to-pay-its-debts-to-oil-companies.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27779-haiti-flash-imports-of-petroleum-products-new-endangered-in-the-country.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-27497-icihaiti-economy-postponement-of-the-deadline-of-the-imf-s-$229m-loan.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27152-haiti-flash-towards-the-end-of-subsidies-to-edh.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24941-haiti-fuels-the-imf-suggests-a-much-more-gradual-approach-to-remove-subsidies.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24881-haiti-flash-the-price-of-gas-explodes-at-the-pump.html

SL/ HaitiLibre