A sudden appreciation in Haiti’s national currency, the gourde, has led to chaos there as experts ponder over reasons. Over the past four weeks, the gourde has risen in value from 118 gourdes to the US dollar during August end to 65 gourdes for every greenback recently, an appreciation of 81.5 per cent. The textiles industry may be severely hit as a result.

One media report from the country said the 25,000 employees in the textiles industry can lose their jobs by December. US apparel brands and retailers feel the development will make Haiti uncompetitive and damages its investment climate.

Haiti’s minister of finance and economy Patrick Boisvert said he is discussing the issue with textiles industry officials to address it.

With more than 60 per cent of bank deposits in the country kept in US dollars, the buying power of many Haitians has been reduced in half because prices have not changed much.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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