As Haiti’s lockdown entered its second month in August 2019, economists and business leaders painted an increasingly dire picture of the country’s economic trajectory. The prolonged shutdown had devastated small businesses, informal vendors, and workers in the formal economy alike, with losses mounting by the day.
The Haitian Chamber of Commerce released a report estimating cumulative losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars from suspended trade, tourism, and business activity. Factories in the industrial zones north of Port-au-Prince that employed tens of thousands of garment workers were unable to operate at full capacity, threatening jobs and export revenues.
International investors who had been cautiously watching Haiti’s economic potential retreated further, with several development projects suspended indefinitely. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund warned of a sharp economic contraction for the fiscal year ending in September 2019.
For ordinary Haitians, the economic pain was immediate and personal. Day laborers who earned daily wages had no income. Market vendors who had invested their savings in inventory could not sell. Families with no access to remittances or savings faced genuine hunger. The human cost of the political standoff was mounting with every passing week.