Saturday, June 20, 2009

Haiti: No longer the smallest economy in the Americas (according to the IMF).

“Haiti: The poorest country in the Americas…” that was our nickname until the last “World Economic Outlook” report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). According to the IMF, Haiti is no longer the smallest economy of the Western Hemisphere, a place which is now occupied by Nicaragua. But beware !!! This doesn’t mean that people in Haiti are now richer than those in Nicaragua. The size of Nicaragua’s economy is smaller but they also have fewer people than Haiti too. So when you divide the wealth produced in Nicaragua by its population, the average Nicaraguan is still richer than the average Haitian. To complete the picture remind yourself that income inequality in Haiti is higher than in Nicaragua and our environment is by far in a worst shape. For instance, while 15% of their territory is occupied by the rainforest, that number is less than 2% in Haiti.

6 comments:

  1. Super! Ce site est une excellente initiative... J'aime ton article: simple et concis. J'attends les autres informations qui suivront et merci de me permettre d'enrichir mes connaissances. N'oublie pas les photos...

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  2. Sometimes i feel tired and sick of those statements. Even though Haiti is on its way to become less poorer than before but this report is more like preparing people's views on Haiti's future.

    I won't be surprised that one day Haiti will be the perfect place to chill oneself out!

    Keep doing it Kalo I already add you on my bookmark!!!!!

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  3. Kay Ti Kal:
    I took the time to read the entire post from the source. It seems that the entire region is upside down from Mexico to Chile, from Honduras to Paraguay.
    The main conclusion is not that Haiti is not longer the smalest economy in the region, but that somehow "some people manage to do worst than us" (no sarcasm).
    Manadjah

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  4. Guys please let's not fool ourself, we are way behind, there is no real difference in being before or after Nicaragua, we gotta do something.

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  5. @ Karl: I don't think it makes a big difference. And of course WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING.However the "poorest country in the hemisphere" nickname is so often used that it is stuck in people's mind while they may not see opportunities offered by the country. For instance, I am pretty sure that some telecommunications companies didn't look at Haiti because of the "poorest country" tag, while Digicel has proved that they were wrong.

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  6. Yeah...umm...Haiti is still going down the drain way faster than Nicaragua. The GDP per Capita says it all. Nicaragua is more able to generate standing wealth than Haiti. Check your facts!

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