National News

Beginning July 20, Honduran taxpayers must generate FYDUCA payment receipts through SAR's Virtual Office online portal rather than in person.

Honduras spends more than 100 million lempiras (about $4 million) each day on public-employee salaries, with education receiving the largest budget allocation, according to former Education Minister Marlon Escoto.

After an audit found redundant administrative positions, Honduras's fire department did not renew about 30 contracts and opened 35 operational firefighter positions in San Pedro Sula, saying it needs more active responders to handle emergencies.

Honduras's National Congress approved a resolution to provide logistical support for transporting humanitarian donations to Venezuela following recent earthquakes, coordinating the shipment of food, medicine, and essential supplies.

Honduras's agriculture ministry and the national coffee institute signed a 100-million-lempira (about $4 million) cooperation agreement to boost coffee production through research, technical assistance, technology transfer, and improved quality standards.

A Libre congressman argues that collecting millions owed by large corporations to the state electricity utility ENEE would shore up its finances and make privatization unnecessary, and has called for public disclosure of the major delinquent accounts.

Honduras will announce its official under-20 roster on July 14 for the Concacaf U-20 Championship (July 24–August 9 in Mexico), where four spots and an Olympic berth are at stake.

The director of the Association for a More Just Society (ASJ) challenged President Nasry Asfura's decision not to send humanitarian aid to Venezuela following deadly earthquakes, arguing that regional solidarity should prevail in emergencies, while noting that Congress has taken a different stance.

Moody's confirmed Honduras's B1 sovereign credit rating with a stable outlook for the next 12 months, but warned that crime, political polarization, and weak institutions threaten the economy, while remittances remain a crucial economic pillar despite stricter US migration policies.

Darwin Ponce, president of the advocacy group Artículo 19, argues that comparing Honduras's food-basket prices to other countries ignores local purchasing power, and that the basic basket for a five-person urban family costs around 16,000 lempiras (about $640), not the four-person household basis some use.

ENEE manager Guillermo Peña Panting disclosed that the state electric utility's largest debtor is the government and its institutions, which owe approximately L14 billion of the utility's L18 billion in total accounts receivable.

A tropical wave is expected to bring heavy rainfall to Honduras, forecasters say, even as parts of the country experience extreme heat.

Experts warn that a recent increase in power tariffs will drive up costs for basic foods, dairy, meat, and other essentials, as 85–90% of consumer products rely on electricity in production and storage.

National Police Director Rigoberto Oseguera Mass has reinstated officers previously removed by a 2016–2018 purge, including Francisco Javier Leiva Gamoneda, accused in a 2016 investigation of involvement in the 2009 killing of a drug-enforcement director, and Jorge Alberto Barralaga Hernández, convicted of money laundering in 2021.

Honduras' external debt climbed to $9.3 billion as of March 2026, up 13.3% over two years, prompting the business council to urge the government to prioritize efficient public spending and curb excessive borrowing.

The Central Bank of Honduras allocated $99.4 million in a foreign-exchange auction on July 1, setting the weighted average exchange rate at L26.7356 per dollar for July 2.

Congress approved contracts for consulting, technology infrastructure, and external audits to modernize Honduras's customs agency and improve tax collection, funded through an IDB loan.

Honduras's National Congress unanimously approved sending food, medicine, water, and supplies to Venezuela following devastating earthquakes on June 24 that killed nearly 1,900 people, with lawmakers also committing one day's salary each to fund the assistance.

The Evangelical Fellowship of Honduras called for broader, technically-grounded public debate on proposed electrical-sector reforms, emphasizing that any modernization must preserve ENEE's state ownership and protect Honduran households and businesses from service disruptions and high costs.

Credit to Honduras's private sector continues to grow favorably, driven by domestic-currency financing to businesses in productive sectors including services, real estate, and agriculture.

Honduras's banking system is reallocating resources toward domestic investments, particularly voluntary holdings of Central Bank securities and instruments issued by the government and state power utility ENEE.

The Central Bank of Honduras says its external position is solid, supported by rising foreign-exchange reserves and favorable inflows that have maintained a positive net flow of hard currency.

Honduras's state utility ENEE increased residential, commercial, and industrial electricity rates by 12.48% effective July 1 through September 30, raising monthly bills by roughly that percentage across all customer segments.

Vice President of Congress Godofredo Fajardo introduced a bill to block a 12.82% electricity rate increase announced by the energy regulator, keeping the price at 5.32 lempiras per kilowatt-hour instead of allowing it to rise to 5.98 lempiras, citing the burden on household budgets and business costs.

José Azcona, a Liberal Party engineer and former congressman, argues that the government's proposed restructuring of the state power utility into three private-market companies would effectively privatize the electricity market and raise costs for poor consumers, though he says ENEE can be rescued without direct privatization.

Honduras's coffee price slipped 0.8% year-over-year to $3.07 per kilogram in July, though the country remains among the world's top five coffee exporters and the crop sustains thousands of farming families.

Marvin Ponce alleged Wednesday that five Liberal Party members of Congress are demanding bribes in exchange for votes on energy reforms aimed at reducing electricity theft and restructuring the state utility into three separate entities.

Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, pardoned by Trump in December 2025, may face a new US investigation into the 2022 murder of Said Lobo, son of ex-president Porfirio Lobo, with potential charges of conspiracy and murder of a US citizen carrying life imprisonment or death penalty.

Engineer Salomón Ordoñez warned that a 12.48% increase in electricity tariffs will raise living costs and dampen foreign investment, urging transparent bidding and cuts to power-system losses to stabilize rates.

Carlos Hernández, director of the advocacy group ASJ, warns that the state power utility ENEE has received 46 billion lempiras over four years while carrying a debt exceeding 100 billion lempiras, and continues to suffer from high losses, unfocused subsidies, and electricity theft.