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New records in Haiti, but for all the wrong reasons. The prices increased by 1,5% in February compared to January, and on year-to-year the inflation is now at 17%.
Food prices soared more than 20% over the last year.
Selected price increases in one year that make daily life a bigger struggle than in a long time:
Imported rice + 22.7%
Cod + 24.4%
Milk powder + 25.9%
Meat +30.4%
Banana +27%
Cassava +43.2%
70% of the population now live below the national poverty line of US$2.41 per day, and more than 2.5 million (24%) fall below the national extreme poverty line (US$1.23 per day).
Add to that the US dollar is at the highest level as far as I remember for the Haitian gourdes. Yesterday one US dollar cost over 83 gourdes, compared to 65 when I last went to Haiti in 2017. 10 years ago a dollar cost below 40 gourdes.
Haiti struggles to come back after the 2016 hurricane Matthew, a natural disaster that caused damages equivalent to 32 percent of GDP.
These are all very step numbers for the poor nation. I hope there is a way back…
