Critical that cash starts to flow in Haiti: IMF

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund is working with donors to get cash circulating again in Haiti's quake-devastated economy so people can buy food and civil servants can get paid, a senior IMF official said on Wednesday.

Banks will reopen shortly while some money transfer agencies are already functioning so remittances sent by Haitians living abroad can get to desperate family members who survived last week's major quake, said Nicolas Eyzaguirre, director of the IMF's western hemisphere department, in remarks published on the IMF's website.

"We need to urgently help Haiti to get its economy functioning again," Eyzaguirre said.

He said the IMF had only very preliminary numbers on the extent of the damage caused by the 7.0 magnitude quake, which has killed tens of thousands of people.

Eyzaguirre said the cost to the economy of devastating hurricanes in Haiti in 2008 was about 15 percent of gross domestic product, or $900 million. Damage from the earthquake would probably be more, although there was still a lot of uncertainty, he added.

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by James Dalgleish and Jeffrey Benkoe)