Haiti halts gasoline subsidy; prices soar

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Cuts in Haitian gasoline subsidies pushed the price of fuel to $6.14 a gallon on Thursday, further burdening an impoverished people as the government redirected money to other programs.

The 80-cents-per-gallon increase was felt immediately in the struggling country where 80 percent of people live on less than $2 a day.


Gasoline subsidies were implemented by President Rene Preval to prevent instability after April riots over the high cost of food that left at least seven dead and resulted in the dismissal of the country’s prime minister, who has not yet been replaced.

But the cash-strapped government could not maintain assistance that totaled an estimated $15 million over three months while also providing agricultural assistance and other programs meant to combat the country’s ongoing food crisis, Haitian economist Kesner Pharel said.

Preval could “pay some political price” for allowing the increases.

“It’s a difficult choice but … if you keep losing money like that you have a price to pay in the medium and long term,” Pharel said.

AP