In its latest report on Haiti, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reports that according its estimates Haiti's public debt, which was $2.4 billion (28.8% of GDP) at the end of 2016, will account for 28.9% of GDP in 2017, 32.7% in 2018, 35.3% and 37.7% in 2019.

About 75% of Haiti's external debt is payable to Venezuela under the PetroCaribe program on concessional terms.

As of December 31, 2016 (latest available figures), Haiti's cumulative long-term debt, to be repaid to Venezuela over a 25-year period, amounted to US $ 2.1 billion (2,197,736,488.26), however, following the 2010 earthquake, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela officially canceled just over 360 million (360,787,858.03) on long-term debt. Consequently, Haiti's effective debt as at 31 December 2016 was 1,836,948,630.23.

The remainder of the external debt comes largely from concessional claims from other multilateral institutions.

In addition, the IMF report states that Haiti's domestic public debt amounted to $ 112 million, mainly in the form of medium-term Treasury bills, which are held by local commercial banks.

According to the report, Haiti's debt risk increased from moderate to high in long-term growth prospects and an increase in borrowing which, on the other hand, underlines that the public sector debt indicators show a high overall risk of debt distress.

TB/ HaitiLibre