Public Finances: Court of Auditors Highlights Fifteen Years of Persistent Fragilities

Under the leadership of its president, Rogavil Boisguéné, the Superior Court of Accounts and Administrative Disputes (CSCCA) presented an unflinching assessment of the state of Haitian public finances over the last fifteen years. Despite the adoption of major reforms, including the Public Finance Reform Strategy (2014) and the Law of May 4, 2016, on the elaboration and execution of finance laws (LEELF), budgetary governance remains marked by deep structural weaknesses.

According to a report published last October, the mobilization of internal resources remains highly insufficient. Tax pressure hovers around 5% of GDP, a level significantly below the regional average. Public revenues remain largely dependent on customs duties and external financing, the volatility of which undermines budgetary stability and limits the state's planning capacity.

The CSCCA also notes a persistent imbalance in the structure of public expenditures. Over the analyzed period, operating expenses absorbed an average of more than 74% of mobilized resources, compared to barely 26% allocated to actually executed public investment. Although investment expenditures have significantly increased in value, their economic and social impacts are deemed weak, reflecting problems of allocation, project quality, and execution.

Another warning sign: budgetary sustainability is seriously compromised. The burden of debt service has seen a spectacular increase, recently exceeding the level of current revenues, while cumulative deficits reached nearly 80 billion gourdes between 2009 and 2024. This situation results notably from unrealistic budgetary forecasts and increasingly heavy incompressible charges.

The report also points to major deficiencies in transparency and accountability. The absence of voted settlement laws, delays in the production of public accounts, and the incomplete publication of budgetary data weaken democratic control and the credibility of public action.

In light of these findings, the CSCCA formulates ten key lessons and proposes ten priority courses of action. These include the effective operationalization of the LEELF, the generalization of program budgeting, the establishment of a systematic accountability mechanism, the adoption of a budgetary rule limiting the deficit, and the broadening of the tax base.

Beyond the figures, the Court calls for a real break in public finance management. Without rigorous and coherent implementation of the recommended reforms, the CSCCA warns, Haiti risks remaining trapped in a cycle of budgetary fragility incompatible with its development and stability ambitions.