(2023-08) Prime Minister's budget framework letter for FY2023-2024

Primature (Cabinet of the Prime Minister) • 2023

Summary — Memorandum from Prime Minister Ariel Henry to all public spending ordonnateurs setting the fiscal framework for the FY2023-2024 budget. It reviews FY2022-2023 execution (economic contraction, revenue gains, falling BRH financing) and sets targets for growth, inflation, the fiscal deficit and 13 priority spending areas.

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Key Findings

FY2022-2023 growth revised down to -0.4% (from an initial +0.3% projection), a fifth consecutive year of contraction.
FY2023-2024 targets: GDP growth about +0.7%, end-period inflation 16.8%, fiscal pressure 6.6% of GDP, budget deficit 1.8% of GDP (vs 1.9% in 2022-2023).
BRH financing of the Treasury fell 74%, from 31.9 billion gourdes (30 June 2022) to 8.3 billion gourdes (30 June 2023), 24% of the 34.3 billion gourde ceiling.
Net treasury bond issuance turned negative (-2.8 billion gourdes) as amortizations (111 billion) exceeded issuances (108.1 billion) at 30 June 2023.
9 million people in acute food insecurity per CNSA (March 2023); exports down about 21.6% in the first five months of the fiscal year and private transfers down about 9% in the first semester.

Full Description

This Lettre de Cadrage, issued by the Office of the Prime Minister (signed by Dr. Ariel Henry, Port-au-Prince, 02 August 2023), guides all public institutions in preparing their FY2023-2024 spending proposals. It reports that FY2022-2023 growth is estimated at -0.4% (versus an initial +0.3% projection), the fifth consecutive year of economic contraction, driven by insecurity, inflation, fuel-supply disruptions and currency depreciation. Fiscal execution through 30 June 2023 showed current revenue up 56% year-on-year, expenditure down 6%, subsidies and current transfers down 63%, and investment spending up 129%; BRH financing of the budget fell 74%, from 31.9 billion gourdes (30 June 2022) to 8.3 billion gourdes (30 June 2023), equal to 24% of the 34.3 billion gourde ceiling under the BRH-MEF governance pact, while net treasury bond issuance turned negative (-2.8 billion gourdes) as amortizations (111 billion) exceeded new issuances (108.1 billion). For FY2023-2024 the letter sets a growth target of about +0.7% of GDP and an end-of-period inflation target of 16.8%, alongside a fiscal-pressure target of 6.6% of GDP and a budget deficit target of 1.8% of GDP (down from 1.9% in 2022-2023). It lists 13 priority spending domains for institutions to fund, including the Haitian National Police, elections and constitutional consultation, social protection programs (PNPPS, PUrMARG), agricultural campaigns, the Peninsula Sud recovery plan (PRIPS), private-sector support, anti-fraud and anti-money-laundering enforcement, oversight bodies (CSCCA, UCREF, ULCC, CNMP, IGF), and gender/disability inclusion. It also references the new IMF Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) signed 29 June 2023 and reports 4.9 million people in acute food insecurity per the CNSA (March 2023).

Topics

Geography

Time Coverage

2022-10 — 2024-09

Keywords

cadrage budgetaire, Primature, budget 2023-2024, deficit budgetaire, pression fiscale, financement BRH, inflation, croissance economique, insecurite alimentaire, SMP FMI

Entities

Primature, Ariel Henry, MEF, BRH, FMI, PNH, MAST, CNSA, AGD, CSCCA, UCREF, ULCC, CNMP, IGF, PNPPS, PUrMARG, PRIPS

Notes

Issued by the Office of the Prime Minister (Primature), signed by Dr. Ariel Henry, addressed to all budget ordonnateurs; despite the batch label this is not an MEF document, organization set to Primature. Publication month taken from the closing signature line (Port-au-Prince, 02 aout 2023), not a cover date.