The earthquake and its aftermath

On January 12, 2010 an earthquake near Port-au-Prince killed an estimated 200,000 or more people and destroyed much of the capital, with damage and losses estimated to be roughly equal to a full year of the country's GDP. Output fell sharply in the fiscal year that followed, and the Banque de la République d'Haïti faced a sudden need for liquidity and foreign exchange, which international aid and remittances helped meet. Remittances, which already accounted for around a fifth of GDP, and aid supported the gourde, but inflation stayed in double digits in several later years because of fuel-price subsidies, fiscal deficits financed by the central bank, and repeated shocks including hurricanes, political crises and gang violence. The earthquake is the most visible break in Haiti's output chart, followed by a long period of weak growth.