Who Runs Haiti’s Economy, the Key Players in 2026

HAITI · ECONOMY

The Haiti economy matters to Americans because Haiti bought US$1.31 billion of US goods in 2025.

Output has fallen for eight years and gangs tax the main roads, yet banks, telecom firms and clothing makers keep trade moving.

The Haiti Economy in Numbers

Haiti had about 11.9 million people in 2025, according to World Bank data. Its output at current prices was about US$32.1 billion that year.

Real output, which strips out price rises, fell 2.7% in 2025, the World Bank says. The Haiti economy is now in its eighth year in a row of decline, with an estimated fall of 1.5% in 2026.

The World Bank puts inflation at 21.5% for 2026. It estimates that 50.8% of Haitians live on less than US$3.00 a day, using 2021 prices.

Violence had displaced 1.5 million people by September 2026, the World Bank reports. Between March and June 2026, more than 5.83 million people faced acute food insecurity.

Budget, Debt and Reserves

The Council of Ministers adopted a 2026-27 budget of 401.2 billion gourdes (about US$3.07 billion) on 30 September 2026. Security is the central priority, ahead of elections and economic recovery.

The Banque de la République d’Haïti (BRH), the central bank, set its reference rate at 130.66 gourdes to the US dollar on 21 October 2026. This guide converts at that rate.

The IMF projected public debt at 12.4% of output at the end of fiscal 2025, which it called the lowest in the region. Gross reserves passed US$3.1 billion in July 2025, about seven months of imports.

The State and the Central Bank

Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé leads the government in October 2026. Serge Gabriel Collin is Minister of Economy and Finance.

Ronald Gabriel governs the BRH, which also supervises the banks. At the IMF and World Bank meetings in Bangkok from 12 to 18 October 2026, Haiti asked for faster aid payments.

Haiti also sought US$30 million for an energy project around Les Cayes in the south. The request has not been approved.

Haiti follows an IMF Staff-Monitored Program, an informal deal that needs no vote of the IMF board. An IMF team reached a staff-level agreement on its fourth review after a remote mission from 14 to 25 September 2026.

Haiti met every target for the end of June 2026 except one, on payments owed abroad, which were cleared quickly. The BRH has also stopped financing the budget by creating money, the IMF noted in December 2025.

BRH bills carried 11.5% on the 91-day maturity and 6% on the 7-day maturity as of 7 October 2026. These bills absorb spare gourdes from the banks.

The Banks That Hold the Money

The IMF counted seven banks in Haiti in December 2025, two of them public and five private. The two largest private banks hold more than 60% of all bank assets.

Unibank, Sogebank and Capital Bank are the three private lenders the US Commerce Department named as major in its 2024 country guide. Citibank, once the only US bank in Haiti, has completed its exit.

Sogebank marked 40 years in April 2026 and grew from assets bought from the Royal Bank of Canada. Its group includes Sogebel, a savings and housing bank, and the insurer Soge Assurance.

Unibank’s founder Carl Braun resigned from its board on 10 October 2023, after Canada sanctioned him in September 2023. Braun denies the accusations and says he wants to clear his name.

Banks lend little to the Haiti economy. Credit was 3.1% of output in fiscal 2025, the IMF says, and bad loans were 14.2% of the total in June 2025.

The IMF put the banks’ capital adequacy ratio at 22.3% in mid-2025, against a 12% regulatory minimum. A BRH study published in July 2026 found the system broadly resilient but exposed to political shocks.

A Cyber Incident at Capital Bank

Capital Bank closed several branches and lost online banking from 2 October 2026 after what it called a technical incident. The criminal group LockBit claims it hacked the bank, a claim the bank has not confirmed.

The bank says customer data is not affected, and its credit and prepaid cards still work. It had set no new date to reopen branches by 7 October 2026.

Money From Abroad and the Remittance Houses

Haitians abroad sent home US$4.1 billion in 2024, equal to 16.9% of output, according to World Bank data. That makes remittances the lifeline of the Haiti economy.

The IMF expects a new 1% tax on certain cash remittances, and the end of some US residence protections for Haitians, to reduce inflows. Temporary Protected Status (TPS) lets some Haitians live and work legally in the United States.

On 23 September 2026 a BRH research team studied how a tougher TPS could hit reserves, the exchange rate and the budget. The BRH governor has warned against assuming a direct link between US policy changes and falling transfers.

Money-transfer firms and mobile wallets carry much of the flow. Natcom’s NatCash wallet held about 51% of the e-wallet market in 2025 and uses about 40,000 agents.

A UN panel of experts reported in 2026 that gangs have tightened their control over remittance houses. It calls the sector a major target for extortion and a channel for moving illicit cash.

Clothing, Trade and Imports

Textile and apparel exports to the United States are about 77% of Haiti’s goods exports, the IMF said in December 2025. They support more than 27,000 formal jobs.

Knit garments were the largest single import from Haiti in 2019, the US Trade Representative notes. The Caracol Industrial Park in the north, a clothing-factory zone, opened in 2012.

HOPE and HELP are US laws that let Haitian-made clothing enter duty-free. Congress extended them to 31 December 2028, and President Donald Trump signed the bill, Le Nouvelliste reported on 3 September 2026.

The Census Bureau counts US goods exports to Haiti at US$1.307 billion in 2025, up from US$1.189 billion in 2024. US imports from Haiti fell to US$536 million in 2025 from US$608 million in 2024.

The Dominican Republic, which shares the island, is the other big supplier. Its customs service counted Dominican exports to Haiti of US$977 million from January to October 2025, led by steel bars, cement and flour.

Imports make up more than 70% of goods sold in the formal Haiti economy, the US Commerce Department said in 2024. Haiti bought US$4.5 billion of goods abroad in fiscal 2022, the latest full-year figure in that guide.

The IMF says several ports face closures or restricted access. A new port at Saint-Louis du Sud, opened in January 2025, may help reroute essential imports.

Telecoms, Power and Ports

Natcom is the largest mobile operator, with 55% of the market in September 2026. Vietnam’s Viettel owns 60% and the Haitian state owns 40%.

Natcom launched 5G in September 2026, and its 4G network covered 95% of the population in 2023. Rezo Nòdwès reports it was the biggest contributor to the state budget in the last fiscal year.

Digicel Haiti began operating in 2006 and marked 20 years in 2026, under chief executive Jean-Philippe Brun. It reported fibre damage that disrupted calls and internet on 12 October 2026.

Electricité d’Haïti (EDH) is the state power company. It recovers payment on roughly one bill in two, and it plans 70,000 more prepaid meters in 2026.

In August 2026 EDH said the private producer E-Power was supplying 14 to 15 megawatts against a contract for 30. The IMF says Haiti plans to move to market-based fuel prices to cut the cost of energy subsidies.

The National Port Authority (APN) manages the international ports of Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haïtien, according to its website. A UN report describes operations to set up a buffer zone around the APN in the capital.

Business Families and Tycoons

Gilbert Bigio, founder of GB Group and described as Haiti’s first billionaire, died on 29 September 2026 in the United States at age 91. Le Nouvelliste, a leading Haitian daily, said his funeral would take place in Hollywood, Florida, on 1 October.

Canada has listed 34 people under its Haiti sanctions rules in 12 rounds from November 2022 to March 2025. Its own page labels some rounds as targeting the economic elite.

By December 2025 a UN panel counted five overlapping sanctions regimes. They are run by the UN, Canada, Britain, the United States and the European Union, and they target gang leaders, political figures and business elites.

The panel describes the elites as economic figures with political connections. It names no company as a gang front, and it names no business owner.

How Gangs Tax the Economy

In 2026 a UN panel reported illegal checkpoints on national highways 1, 2, 4 and 8 that fund the Viv Ansanm gang coalition. In commercial hubs such as Delmas 6, La Saline and Wharf Jérémie, gangs extort businesses and target ports and utilities.

The panel says gangs launder proceeds through cash smuggling, unregulated remittance operators and front companies. Haiti’s financial intelligence unit received about 1.5 million transaction reports from October 2024 to September 2025.

What It Means for US Readers

US apparel buyers keep duty-free access to Haitian factories until 31 December 2028. Haiti’s goods exports fell 9.4% to US$520 million from October 2024 to June 2025, the IMF says.

Anyone sourcing from Haiti should screen partners against US, UN, Canadian, British and EU sanctions lists. Several ports face closures or restricted access, which can delay shipments.

Related Rio Times guides cover Haiti’s role in Latin America and Haiti’s geopolitics. Another report explains the finance ministry’s September 2026 ban on shipping third-country goods through the Dominican Republic.

Remittances are the main source of foreign currency for the Haiti economy, according to the US Commerce Department. A tax on cash remittances or tougher TPS rules would cut that flow, with effects on the exchange rate and reserves.

What Is Not Known

The central bank’s public list of banks gives names but no ownership shares or asset rankings. The ownership of the leading trading groups in the Haiti economy is not published.

How GB Group will be led after Bigio’s death has not been announced. Whether new sanctions will reach the business world is open.

The staff-level agreement on the fourth IMF review still needs approval from IMF management. The 2026 growth figure is an estimate and may change.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the biggest part of the Haiti economy?

Services made up 54.2% of output in 2025, according to World Bank data. Industry, including clothing assembly, was 27.5% and farming 15.8%.

Who runs Haiti’s economy?

Policy sits with the prime minister, the finance minister and the central bank governor. Day to day, a few banks, telecom firms and clothing makers anchor the Haiti economy.

How much do Haitians abroad send home?

Remittances were US$4.1 billion in 2024, or 16.9% of output, according to World Bank data. A 1% tax on certain cash remittances is expected to reduce the flow.

Can US firms still import Haitian clothing duty-free?

Yes, under the HOPE and HELP laws, which Congress extended to 31 December 2028. President Trump signed the extension in the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027.

What is the gourde worth against the US dollar?

The BRH reference rate was 130.66 gourdes to the US dollar on 21 October 2026. The BRH said in July 2026 that the rate was relatively stable at about 131.50.

Does Haiti have any big foreign investors?

Viettel of Vietnam owns 60% of Natcom, the largest mobile operator, and Digicel has operated in Haiti since 2006. Citibank has completed its exit from the banking sector.

Sources: World Bank, Haiti overview, 2026-10-07; World Bank, World Development Indicators for Haiti, 2026-10-21; IMF, Haiti staff report and press release on the second review of the Staff-Monitored Program, 2025-12-01; IMF, Press Release 25/342 on Haiti, 2025-10-10; Banque de la République d’Haïti, rates and bills, 2026-10-21; US Census Bureau, trade in goods with Haiti, 2026-10-21; Le Nouvelliste, government welcomes the HOPE/HELP extension to 2028, 2026-09-03; Le National, 2026-27 budget, 2026-10-02; Juno7, Haiti at the IMF and World Bank meetings, 2026-10-15; Le National, IMF mission on the fourth review, 2026-09-29; UN Panel of Experts on Haiti, report of January 2026, 2026; UN Panel of Experts on Haiti, interim report of March 2026, 2026-03-27; Government of Canada, Haiti sanctions, 2026-10-21; Rezo Nòdwès, Natcom and Viettel, 2026-09-28; Rezo Nòdwès, Natcom budget contribution, 2026-10-16; HaitiLibre, Digicel Haiti at 20 years, 2026-05-04; Le National, EDH and E-Power, 2026-08-08; Rezo Nòdwès, EDH prepaid meters, 2026-09-03; Autorité Portuaire Nationale, 2026-10-21; Le Nouvelliste, death of Gilbert Bigio, 2026-09-29; Haïti-Progrès, Carl Braun and Unibank, 2023-10-18; Sogebank, 2026-10-21; Juno7, Capital Bank disruption, 2026-10-07; Juno7, BRH study on remittances, 2026-10-01; Le Nouvelliste, BRH study on the banking system, 2026-08-03; HaitiLibre, Dominican exports to Haiti, 2025-12-15; US Commerce Department, Haiti Country Commercial Guide, 2024-05-27; Le National, BRH briefing on the economy, 2026-07-22; House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats, statement on AGOA and HOPE/HELP, 2026-09-03.

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief

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