The Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) and the Haiti Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIH) are currently studying the impact of the long-term socio-political crisis on companies in the countries.

Recall that since the current crisis erupted last September, several companies have closed their doors or reduced their staff, while other small and medium-sized businesses have been vandalized and looted by the demonstrators.

Jean Baden Dubois, the Governor General of BRH, said that the central bank had met with financial actors and was evaluating the impact on different entities, from micro-enterprises to medium-sized enterprises, in order to provide an appropriate response.

At the same time, Frantz Bernard Craan, President of CCIH, confirmed that the leaders of associations had received correspondence from the BRH to assess their damage and that they were in the process of collecting data. He revealed that they intended to discuss a set of measures, such as the restructuring of commercial bank lending, as well as the extension of payment terms, which would reduce the cash flow effects of companies.

Craan also said that the Ministry of the Economy could take steps to extend the conditions normally set by law for the payment of taxes and the removal of penalties for delay, provisions that had already been taken after the 2010 earthquake.

For its part, economist Kesner Pharel recently warned that the closure of hotel institutions and the reduction of staff, after more than 8 weeks of demonstrations in Haiti, caused concern over the collapse of the economy. Pharel considers that the mobilizations are legitimate but he emphasizes that the closing of companies is a "suicide" which does not exempt the Government from its responsibilities.

HL/ HaitiLibre