- The official unit of currency in Haiti is the Gourde (pronounced “goor-d”).
- “Gourde” is the French spelling of the word which is used officially in Haitian banking.
- All values between U.S. dollars and Haitian money are dependent on the exchange rate , which fluctuates daily, and can even be different at one Haitian bank from another Haitian bank on any given day.
The rate can be expressed several ways:
- As a ratio, which is a total number of units of one currency compared with a total number of units of another currency
- As one currency equaling a certain amount of another currency (a comparison)
The Gourde (written as HTG for Haitian Gourde) is worth much less internationally than the U.S. dollar, so one U.S. dollar always equals a number of Gourdes. Americans traveling to Haiti often place the Gourde value first in the ratio (or comparison) and the U.S. dollar value second.
In recent times, the exchange rate has been approximately 45:1, or 45 Gourdes to 1 U.S. dollar. As a comparison, it’s written as 45 HTG (Gourdes) = 1 USD or written as 1 USD = 45 HTG.
- Thus, 1 HTG = 0.022 USD (just over 2 cents)
- The ratio would be 1:45 for 1 U.S. dollar to 45 Gourdes.
- For an amount in Gourdes, divide by the rate (about 45) to get a U.S. dollar value.
- Examples: 10,000 Gourdes = $222.14 USD. 100,000 Gourdes = $2,221.40 USD.
Multiply U.S. dollar amounts by the rate to get Gourde amounts.
- As a current example, $100.00 USD = 4,500 Gourdes (100 times 45).
- $1,000.00 USD = 45,000 Gourdes (1,000 times 45)
Examples of websites which have currency converters : http://finance.yahoo.com/currency-converter www.xe com/currency/htg-haitian-gourde https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/
U.S. DOLLARS TO GOURDES – CONVERSION EXAMPLES AT RECENT EXCHANGE RATE
- $1.00 in U.S. dollars (USD) = 45 Gourdes (HTG)
- $100.00 in U.S. dollars (USD) = 4,500 Gourdes (HTG)
- $500.00 in U.S. dollars (USD) = 22,500 Gourdes (HTG)
- $1,000.00 in U.S. dollars (USD) = 45,000 Gourdes (HTG)
- $5,000.00 in U.S. dollars (USD) = 225,000 Gourdes (HTG)
- $10,000.00 in U.S. dollars (USD) = 450,000 Gourdes (HTG
GOURDES TO U.S. DOLLARS – CONVERSION EXAMPLES AT RECENT EXCHANGE RATE
- 1 Gourde (HTG) = a small part of a U.S. dollar ($ 0.022, or about 2 U.S. cents)
- 100 Gourdes (HTG) = $2.22 in U.S. dollars (USD) or two U.S. dollars and thirty cents
- 1,000 Gourdes (HTG) = $22.21 in U.S. dollars (USD)
- 10,000 Gourdes (HTG) = $222.14 in U.S. dollars (USD)
- 100,000 Gourdes (HTG) = $2,221.40 in U.S. dollars (USD)
More notes about Gourdes:
There are paper bills/banknotes for Gourdes in denominations:
1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500 and 1,000
There is a 1-Gourde coin and a 5-Gourde coin.
Haitians use the term “Gourde” (not pluralized) for more than one Gourde, though we tend to use it pluralized (“Gourdes”) when there are more than one. Abbreviations: “Gde” or Gdes” or “gde” or “gdes”
The spelling in Haitian Creole is goude (or goud ayisyen); it can be listed in French as gourde haïtienne. –
The “code” of Haiti currency is HTG and the symbol is G.
THE “HAITIAN DOLLAR”: Haitians also refer to an unofficial value called Haitian dollars which are expressed in dollars and decimal parts of a dollar just like U.S. amounts. There are 5 Haitian Gourdes (HTG) in a Haitian dollar. (That is a fixed value.) Thus, a Haitian dollar figure must be multiplied by five to get the amount in Gourdes. Haitians use a dollar sign ($) for Haitian dollars similar to United States dollar sign. Like the Gourde, the Haitian dollar is worth much less than the U.S. dollar.
When the exchange rate is 45, the ratio is about 9:1 for the Haitian dollar against the U.S. dollar.
HAITIAN DOLLARS TO U.S. DOLLARS – CONVERSION EXAMPLES AT RECENT RATE
$1.00 in Haitian dollars = part of a U.S. dollar (approx. $0.11, or 11 cents)
$100.00 in Haitian dollars = approx. $11.11 in U.S. dollars (USD)
$1,000.00 in Haitian dollars = approx. $111.11 in U.S. dollars (USD)
U.S. DOLLARS TO HAITIAN DOLLARS – CONVERSION EXAMPLES AT RECENT RATE
$1.00 in U.S. dollars (USD) = $9.00 in Haitian dollars
$100.00 in U.S. dollars (USD) = $900.00 in Haitian dollars
$1,000.00 in U.S. dollars (USD) = $9,000.00 in Haitian dollars
Fixed Values for Haitian dollars and Gourdes:
GOURDES TO HAITIAN DOLLARS
Divide Gourde amounts by 5 to get that same amount in Haitian dollars.
1 Gourde (HTG) = part of a Haitian dollar ($0.20, or 20 Haitian cents)
5 Gourdes (HTG) = $1.00 Haitian dollar
100 Gourdes (HTG) = $20.00 Haitian dollars
1,000 Gourdes (HTG) = $200.00 Haitian dollars
HAITIAN DOLLARS TO GOURDES
Multiply Haitian dollar amounts by 5 to get that same amount in Gourdes.
$1.00 in Haitian dollars = 5 Gourdes (HTG)
$100.00 in Haitian dollars = 500 Gourdes (HTG)
$1,000.00 in Haitian dollars = 5,000 Gourdes (HTG)
Notes on Haitian dollars: There are no paper bills/banknotes for the Haitian dollar unit. The dollar unit has cents that are called “centimes” (in French) or santims (in Haitian Creole) and represent one-hundredth parts of a Haitian dollar: 5, 10, 20, 50 centimes (note: 5 centimes is also called a “Haitian penny”) – The 5-Gourde coin is equal to one Haitian dollar.
The exchange rate can also be expressed as a percentage rate going from one currency’s unit (such as the U.S. dollar) to another type of currency from another country. Thus, both types of currency have their own different exchange rates against the other type of currency.
Example percentage (%) values (when recent rate is 45:1):
The exchange rate is: 4,500% (or 45.00 in a ratio) for the U.S. dollar against the Gourde. Conversely, the exchange rate is: 2.2% (or 0.022 in a ratio) for the Gourde against the U.S. dollar. Thus, the exchange rate is: 900% (or 9.0 in a ratio) for the U.S. dollar against the Haitian dollar. Conversely, the exchange rate is: 11% (or 0.11 in a ratio) for the Haitian dollar against U.S. dollar.
References
https://www.parishprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Currency-and-Exchange-Rates-Haiti-PDF.pdf
https://www.haitihub.com/download/Money-Matters-in-Haiti.pdf