Haiti: closing price of the dollar today February 28 from USD to HTG

During the last session, the American dollar paid at the close of 147.98 gourdes on averagewhich implied a variation of 0.54% compared to the figure of the day before which was 148.79 gourdes on average.

If we consider the data of the last seven days, the American dollar records a decrease of 0.22%; although in the past year it still maintains a rise of 29.72%.

The gourde (translated as “gras”) is the official currency in Haiti. and it is abbreviated as HGT, it is also divided into 100 cents and its production is regulated by the Bank of the Republic of Haiti.

Although its name comes from French, its origin refers to the Spanish currency called “gordos”; some citizens also call it “goud”, to make it sound like the English word “mood”.

Introduced in 1813 in replacement of the old poundcurrently you can find 5, 10, 20, 50 cent coins, as well as 1 and 10 gourdes, however, 5, 10 and 20 cent coins are not used regularly, so their use is in the minority.

As for banknotes, you can find 10, 20, 25, 50, 100, 250 and 1000 gourdes. One Haitian gourde is currently equivalent to 0.0097 units of the US dollar, as well as 0.0085 units of the euro.

During its history, the gourd has had three issues, the last in 1872, which is the one currently in use. In 1912, the currency was pegged to the American dollarbut in 1989 it was decoupled, despite the fact that there are currently places where citizens prefer the use of the Haitian dollar, followed by the US dollar, the second most accepted currency.

For the Haitian banknotes, images of historical figures were chosen, such as that of the Vallières Market, a famous pedestrian market, as well as Catherine Flonwhich is a symbol of the Haitian revolution, was the woman who sewed the first Haitian flag in 1803. The coat of arms appears on the reverse of all coins.

Demand for the currency is weak outside the country, as Haiti has a fragile economy, because it is not an exporting country and its survival depends entirely on agriculture. Moreover, its annual budget is financed up to 20% by foreign aid.

These conditions pushed Haiti to become the poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean (with a rate of 60%); It also has one of the highest rates of income inequality in the world and 44% of its population suffers from acute food insecurity.

Similarly, in recent years, Haiti has been marked by the political instability and major natural disasters, since it was not until 2021 that its citizens experienced the assassination of its president, Jovenel Moïse, and a few weeks later an earthquake of 7.2 degrees in magnitude, which caused more than 2,200 dead and damage that still remains. be recovered.