As Haiti’s Financial Pressures Mount – Practical Solutions Exist
Industry: Business
Porous border a way to raise much needed revenues for Haitian administration
Caribbean, Haiti (PRUnderground) May 9th, 2014
In a recently published opinion piece on the financial pressures facing Haiti’s reshuffled administration, Caribbean expert Anton Edmunds weighed in on the recent cabinet shuffle in Haiti and the country’s financial situation.
According to Edmunds, as the Haitian economy is being weaned off of international aid flows that immediately followed the earthquake, and Venezuela as a source of financial support is a questionable long term solution to propping up the country’s economy, Haitian leadership must find ways to manage internal and external financial obligations. A solution “may well be to better collect tax revenues that come across a very porous border”, Edmunds commented.
With over $1 billion in goods crossing the border that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic with, there are claims that over $400 million in revenue to the Haitian government being lost on an annual basis. Recent talks between Haiti and the Dominican Republic on trade and a thorny citizenship issue have once again been postponed and Edmunds believes that this gives all parties time to come up with better solutions to some serious issues including a variety of tariff and non-tariff barriers that negatively affect the flow of two-way commerce.
“While the collection of revenue will do much to address shortfalls in revenue, important is going to be the investing of some of this revenue into the community of Haitians that live in the border region”, Edmunds states in his piece. This in response to the question of the impact of a more rigorous border management and customs regime being needed in the border region.
Edmunds’ most recent piece is posted on the blog www.onthecaribbean.com, where other pieces on Cuba, Drugs and Security in the Caribbean and Tourism can also be found. Edmunds tweets @theedmundsgroup.com and can be reached at anton@theedmundsgroup.com. He is the head of the boutique emerging markets practice, The Edmunds Group International.
About The Edmunds Group International, LLC
The Edmunds Group International (TEG) is a consulting firm that provides strategic advice to businesses, governments and organizations in and focused on emerging markets. TEG has especially deep knowledge and experience in the Caribbean Basin region and offers clients what the larger firms can’t – a commitment to excellence fueled by nimbleness, responsiveness and access in this nuanced marketplace.
