Elections: Finance Ministry says it has paid in $80.65 million, with $39.35 million still to be funded

Haiti's Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) says it has paid $80.651 million into the joint fund that finances the elections, out of a $120 million budget submitted by the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP). That leaves $39.349 million still to be funded, according to a ministry note dated Wednesday, November 4, 2026, reported by AlterPresse, Le Quotidien 509, RHI News and Haiti24.

The payments, as of September 30, 2026, went into the joint basket fund managed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), more than two-thirds of the total. The balance is included in the 2026-2027 budget and will be disbursed gradually, according to the needs of the electoral process, the ministry says. It plans a working meeting with the CEP "as soon as possible" to review how the budget is being spent and consider possible adjustments, AlterPresse reports.

A budget set before the latest delay

The note comes days after the CEP published, on October 28, a revised calendar that pushes the first round back to July 18, 2027, and the second to October 4, 2027. The $120 million figure was agreed on July 3, 2026, by the Prime Minister's office and the CEP, after the government rejected two proposals from the council of between $200 million and $250 million, Le Quotidien 509 notes. The ministry describes the budget as submitted "before the latest revision of the calendar," suggesting it could change.

Figures that raise questions

Le Quotidien 509 points out that the government said at the end of 2025 that it had already paid $70 million into the fund since 2021. If both figures cover the same ground, the state would have paid in only about $10.65 million between January and September 2026, the newspaper calculates. According to UNDP data consulted by the paper, the fund has received $135.3 million in contributions, of which about $74.5 million has been disbursed since 2020. The ministry's note does not say how much of its payments is for the current cycle, or how much the CEP has actually spent.

The $39.35 million balance depends on the 2026-2027 fiscal year, which ends on September 30, 2027: the first round falls within it, but the second does not.