Honduras Economy News

The US reclassified Honduras to a lower 10% tariff rate instead of 12.5% and granted product exemptions, recognizing a Honduran executive decree banning imports of goods made with forced labor.

The Central Bank of Honduras auctioned $83.5 million in its weekly foreign-exchange offering, setting the weighted average exchange rate at L26.7824 per dollar for July 25–27.

Honduras deposited its ratification of the ICSID convention on July 17, becoming the 159th state to join the World Bank dispute-settlement mechanism for foreign-investment disputes, effective August 16.

Honduras's basic food basket increased from L14,500 to L16,000 between December 2025 and July 2026, according to Artículo 19, with meat, dairy, beans, and vegetables driving the cost surge and squeezing household buying power.

The Trump administration announced it will keep a 10% tariff on goods from Honduras and 59 other countries, citing insufficient efforts to prevent forced labor in their exports.

Credit to Honduras's private sector is growing, with most new lending to businesses concentrated in services, real estate, and agriculture, the Central Bank reports.

Honduras's foreign-currency inflows grew compared to a year earlier, driven chiefly by robust family remittances, while outflows grew at a slower pace, producing a net positive currency gap.

Cohep President Anabel Gallardo said Honduras escaped an additional 2.5% tariff hike from the United States but warned that some sectors still face 10% duties and need continued trade negotiations to improve conditions.

The Latin American Development Bank approved $400 million to support Honduras's Comprehensive Social Housing Program, which aims to finance affordable, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable homes.

Union leader Evangelina Argueta warned that potential US tariffs on Honduran textile exports could raise production costs and threaten thousands of jobs in an industry already reeling from 60,000 layoffs, and called for urgent tripartite talks between government, workers, and employers.

Honduras's energy ministry announced new fuel prices effective July 27, with gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and vehicle gas rising by up to 5.59 lempiras per gallon in San Pedro Sula, while the government maintains temporary subsidies on regular gasoline and diesel.

Vendors at the Feria del Agricultor are absorbing a recent L2-per-pound cost rise to keep beef prices stable, though drought threatening cattle feed may force adjustments in coming weeks.

President Nasry Asfura announced $17 million in additional funding to expand ProOccidente, a rural development program, into Honduras's Dry Corridor, aiming to provide technical assistance, climate-smart technologies, financing, and market access to over 4,500 small and medium-sized farmers.

The Central Bank of Honduras auctioned $86.8 million in its July 23 foreign-exchange sale, setting the weighted average exchange rate at L 26.7768 per dollar for July 24.

The Trump administration announced new tariffs of 10–12.5% on imports from 60 countries, citing insufficient efforts against forced labor; Honduras faces a 10% additional tariff alongside Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador.

Presidential trade commissioner Melvin Redondo said Honduras has complied with legal requirements in a US tariff review affecting 17–20% of exports and has passed a decree banning imports from forced-labor conditions to avoid a potential 12.5% increase.

The private-sector business council says Honduras should borrow the $400 million CAF financing to strengthen the housing bank and spur construction, but opposes debt used only to cover government operating costs.

The head of Honduras's apparel manufacturers association is calling on the government to negotiate zero tariffs with the United States for agricultural goods and auto parts, matching Mexico's treatment, to boost competitiveness as the Trump administration considers new trade measures.

Honduras sold a 10-year sovereign bond for $815.67 million at a 6.4% interest rate, securing funds for debt management and the national budget while locking in interest rates more than 2 percentage points lower than a 2024 issuance.

The Central Bank of Honduras auctioned $96.5 million in its daily currency sale on July 22, setting the weighted average exchange rate at L26.7722 per dollar for July 23.

Coffee businessman Basilio Fuschich said a proposed additional 2.5% US tariff on products from countries with forced labor would, combined with existing tariffs, harm Honduras's exports and give competitors an unfair advantage unless applied uniformly across the region.

The government and private-sector leaders, including Cohep president Anabel Gallardo, have lobbied US officials to prevent tariff increases, warning that higher duties on maquila and coffee exports would cost jobs and drive migration.

The United States will impose tariffs of at least 2.5% on about 60 countries, including Honduras, citing forced labor and child labor in supply chains; the measure threatens Honduran exports of coffee, melons, and lobster, which face existing duties ranging from 10% to 25%.

The CAF development bank approved $400 million in financing and technical support for Honduras's Integral Social Housing Program, which aims to expand affordable, accessible, and climate-resilient housing and strengthen the sector's financial institutions.

Lawmakers are reviewing a sweeping reform of Honduras's securities law that would let Hondurans channel savings and remittances into investments rather than consumption, an approach already common in Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic.

After seven weeks of fuel price declines totaling 15–20 lempiras per gallon, Honduras's petroleum distributors say food and service prices have not fallen proportionally, while the government's consumer protection office reports that 16 basic-basket items did drop in Tegucigalpa markets.

Honduran onion producers say they may suspend planting next season if the government fails to enforce a 2023 agricultural decree that restricts imports when local supplies are sufficient, warning of potential national shortages and market disruption.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Cortés warned that international companies have suspended investment plans in Honduras pending the outcome of U.S. tariff negotiations, citing concern that a 10% tariff and potential further restrictions could push capital to competing Central American countries and hurt the manufacturing and job sectors.

Honduras's government is lobbying to be excluded from new US tariffs threatening 12% duties on key exports, arguing the country meets US labor and human-rights standards and that about 600,000 jobs depend on market access.

Central Bank President Roberto Lagos said Honduras holds $11.5 billion in international reserves—enough to cover 6.7 months of imports—and projects 3.5% economic growth this year, though he cautioned that energy-sector reforms are needed to attract investment and push growth above 4%.