He American dollar was paid at closing to 131.98 gourdes on averageso that it implied a change of 0.44% with respect to the 131.40 gourdes of the previous day.
In reference to the profitability of the last seven days, the American dollar marks a rise of 0.34%; On the contrary, a year ago it still accumulated a decrease in 3.44%.
Compared to previous dates, it reversed the price of the previous day, which resulted in a decrease of 0.27%, without being able to establish a clear trend in recent days. The volatility figure is visibly lower than the data obtained for the last year (9.22%), which indicates that it is having a more stable behavior than expected lately.
The gourde (translated as “fat”) is the official currency in Haiti. and it is abbreviated as HGT, it is also divided into 100 cents and its issuance is regulated by the Bank of the Republic of Haiti.
Although its name comes from French, its origin alludes to the Spanish currency called “gordos”; Some citizens also call it “goud”, to sound similar to the English word “mood”.
Created in 1813 in replacement of the old poundcurrently you can find 5, 10, 20, 50 centimes, as well as 1 and 10 gourdes, however, the 5, 10 and 20 centime coins do not maintain regular use, so their use is a minority.
As for banknotes, you can find 10, 20, 25, 50, 100, 250 and 1000 gourdes. One Haitian gourde is currently equivalent to 0.0097 units of the US dollar, as well as 0.0085 units of the euro.
Throughout its history, the gourde has had three emissions, the last in 1872, which is the one currently used. In 1912 the currency was pegged to the American dollarbut in 1989 it was decoupled, despite the fact that there are currently places where citizens prefer to use the Haitian dollar, followed by the US dollar, the second most accepted currency.
For the Haitian banknotes, images of historical figures have been chosen, such as that of Marché Valliéres, a famous pedestrian market, as well as Catherine Flonwho is a symbol of the Haitian revolution, was the woman who sewed the first flag of Haiti in 1803. The coat of arms appears on the back of all coins.
Demand for the currency is low outside the country, since Haiti has a fragile economy, since it is not an exporting nation and fully depends on agronomy to survive. In addition, its annual budget is 20 percent financed by foreign aid.
These conditions have forced Haiti to become the poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean (with a rate of 60%); It also has one of the highest income inequality percentages in the world and 44% of its population suffers from acute food insecurity.
Likewise, in recent years the country has been marked by political instability and the great natural disasters, since only in 2021 did its citizens experience the assassination of their president, Jovenel Moïse, and a few weeks later a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, which left more than 2,200 dead and damage that still remains. They have not been able to recover.
