Haiti is currently in the research phase. At first, in 2021, Bank of the Republic of Haiti Jean Baden Dubois explained in an interview that the central bank was considering a CBDC, but had not launched a pilot or made a formal decision on whether to launch one. In 2022, it was reported that the companies EMTECH and HaitiPay presented a proof-of-concept CBDC an event attended by officials from the Bank of the Republic of Haiti. However, it’s unclear if the Bank of the Republic of Haiti had any involvement in the development of this proof-of-concept.

Haiti currently has many issues pertaining to human rights and civil liberties. The country earned a 31 out of 100 in the Freedom House’s 2023 Freedom in the World report. The biggest issue with respect to the possible issuance of a CBDC in Haiti is the presence of government corruption. A CBDC could worsen this experience.

“Rampant corruption and violence by armed criminal groups undermine basic services and contribute to pervasive physical insecurity,” reported Freedom House. In fact, Freedom House went on to note that both the judiciary and law enforcement agencies lack the resources, independence, and integrity to maintain due process and the rule of law. Finally, Freedom House reported that “Haitians’ general distrust of the government stems in large part from the absence of transparency and accountability measures that are needed to reduce corruption.” The existence of pervasive corruption is a major concern with CBDCs because it calls into question any promises that might be made by the government to limit surveillance, control, or other risks of CBDCs. Furthermore, the existence of corruption calls into question whether CBDC policies might be designed to exert political favoritism through subsidies, price controls, or other targeted restrictions.

For additional information on concerns regarding violations of human rights and civil liberties, see the following reports by Amnesty International, Financial Tyranny Index, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Privacy International, and the U.S. Department of State. For additional information on concerns regarding the risks of CBDCs, see the following webpage and report by the Cato Institute: The Risks of CBDCs and Central Bank Digital Currency: Assessing the Risks and Dispelling the Myths.

For additional information regarding metrics, the methodology page explains each of the data points and provides their respective sources.