| Summary: | This paper discusses Haiti’s Request for Disbursement under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF). While Haiti’s population was already suffering severe malnutrition and food insecurity before the war in Ukraine, especially its suffering has been compounded by the surge in food commodity prices. IMF emergency support under the food shock window of the RCF will help fill the balance of payment gap and support those most affected by food price rises through feeding programs and cash and in-kind transfers to vulnerable households, waives school fees and other measures. The combination of appropriate macroeconomic and structural policies under the Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) provides additional safeguards for the IMF’s outstanding obligations. While providing adequate liquidity support to the financial sector, the central bank should reduce monetary financing of the deficit and limit foreign exchange interventions to smoothing volatility. The SMP is also catalytic to donor support. A successful implementation of Haiti’s SMP would be key in the process of restoring macroeconomic stability and sustainability, strengthening the social safety net, and tackling governance weaknesses and corruption
|
|---|