THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday approved emergency aid of US$105 million (RM450 million) for Haiti, which has long been mired in a humanitarian crisis that has been exacerbated by recent global inflation.

The funds should enable the Caribbean country to “support those most affected by food price rises through feeding programmes and cash and in-kind transfers to vulnerable households”, Antoinette Sayeh, the IMF deputy managing director, said in a statement.

The money was released through the IMF’s “Food Shock Window”, opened at the end of September for a period of one year.

The measure is used to provide rapid access to emergency funds to states facing food insecurity, particularly in the event of unexpected shocks in the import of grains or a sudden rise in prices.

“With more than half the population already below the poverty line, Haiti faces a dire humanitarian crisis,” the IMF said, noting that the Caribbean nation also faces a “health crisis” in the form of a cholera epidemic and “serious security problems,”

“Haiti is facing a dire humanitarian crisis and was hit hard by the economic spill-overs from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Sayeh said. – AFP, January 24, 2023.