Haiti: Staff-Monitored Program-Press Release; and Staff Report

This paper presents Haiti’s Staff-Monitored Program (SMP). Building on progress achieved under the previous SMP, which was satisfactorily concluded in May 2023, the new 9-month SMP should contribute to macroeconomic stability by helping Haiti sustain recent policy reforms designed to enhance economic resilience and governance. Haiti faces a challenging macroeconomic outlook amid a dire humanitarian crisis. The country has been hit hard by economic spillovers from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including food price inflation that has triggered a hunger crisis. This global shock has been compounded by a highly volatile security situation in Haiti, which has heightened the economy’s fragility. The authorities have also recently made a formal request for an IMF Governance Diagnostic, which is a very welcome development and will help Haiti solidify the early improvements achieved during the recently concluded SMP. The diagnostics are designed to help inform governance and anti-corruption strategies, including sequencing of reforms.