Haitian Gourde

Overview

The Haitian Gourde is the official currency of Haiti, a French-speaking Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. The governments of Haiti issued paper money in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, 100 and 500 Haitian Gourde.

Economy

• Two-thirds of Haitians depend on the agricultural sector. Many engage in small-scale subsistence farming, and are vulnerable to losing their crops due to frequent natural disasters, exacerbated by the country's widespread deforestation.
• Haiti is recovering from a massive earthquake in January 2010. Its purchasing power parity GDP fell 8% in 2010 (from $ 12.15 billion to $ 11.18 billion).
• Comparisons of social and economic indicators show Haiti falling behind other low-income developing countries (particularly in the Western hemisphere). A 2011 estimate shows Haiti is in last place in the Americas, and 158th place out of 182 countries, in the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), which ranks countries based on three human development categories (life expectancy at birth, years of schooling, income per capita).
• The Haitian government relies on formal international economic assistance for fiscal sustainability. Over half of its annual budget comes from outside sources.
• In 2005, Haiti's total external debt reached an estimated U.S. $ 1.3 billion, which corresponds to a U.S. debt per capita $169.
• In September 2009, Haiti met the conditions set by the IMF and World Bank's Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, a program for poor countries to qualify for cancellation of foreign debt, and was forgiven $1 billion in debt.

History

• The Haitian Gourde was first introduced in 1813 and replaced the Pound at a rate of 1 Gourde = 8 Pounds, 5 sous. The first issues of coins were silver pieces of 6 cents, 12 and 25.
• In 1827, 50 and 100 cent coins were introduced, followed by 1 and 2 cent coins in 1828, 6 ¼ cent coins in 1846, and 6 cent coins in 1850.
• In 1863, bronze coins, produced by the Heaton Mint in Birmingham, were issued, in denominations of 5, 10 and 20 cents.
• In 1870 the Gourde was revalued at a rate of ten to one. Only banknotes were issued for this second Gourde, with the government issuing notes of 10 and 25 Haitian Gourde.
• In 1872, the Haitian Gourde was revalued again, this time at a rate of 300 to 1. In the early years of the third Gourde, tickets were only issued and the name Piastre was sometimes used instead of Gourde, especially in an issue of notes dated 1875.
• In 1881, the gourde was fixed to the French Franc at 5 Francs = 1 Gourde, and coins were produced again.
• In 1979, the Bank of the Republic of Haiti replaced the National Bank as the paper money issuing body. 1,000 gourde notes were introduced in 2004.