In its report on the global economic outlook for 2017 released this week, the World Bank on the Haitian economy estimates that Haiti's economic growth will be negative and stand at -0.6%.

A bad news for the country and for the newly elected President of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse who must take the reins of power on 7 February.

Only Venezuela in this report is worse than Haiti with an expected economic decrease of -4.3%.

The two best economies in the Caribbean region were Panama (+ 5.4%) and the Dominican Republic (+ 4.5%).

According to the International Monetary Fund, instability and political uncertainty in 2016 have discouraged investors and curbed investment spending in several countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Haiti, Bolivia and Venezuela. Moreover, lack of infrastructure, poor quality combined with low skills in the labor force, have been some of the obstacles to productivity growth in these countries.

TB/ HaitiLibre