Haitian Gourde


Haitian Gourde

The currency of Haiti. It was introduced in 1872, replacing another currency that was also called the gourde. It was initially pegged to the French franc, but this was switched to the U.S. dollar in 1912 at a rate of five gourdes to one dollar. Since 1989, the gourde has been a floating currency. Interestingly, the peg is maintained in colloquial speech, in which people refer to five gourdes as a Haitian dollar. Often, prices are even given in Haitian dollars.