Browse Honduras Daily Stories

A 10% US tariff on Honduran imports expires July 24, and while an economist says he hopes the United States will lift the duties to strengthen trade relations, he warns that the Trump administration may pursue new protectionist measures that could raise consumer prices.

At Roatán's Kennedy neighborhood market, cassava, potatoes, and chayote squash all rose in price, as did soap and detergent, even as egg cartons held steady at 98 lempiras (about $4).

Honduras is projected to export more than 7 million 100-pound sacks of coffee this season, generating $2.2–2.3 billion in revenue, boosted by strong international prices and demand from the US and Europe, though financing and infrastructure remain key challenges for the sector.

Honduras will host the Central American Beekeeping Congress from July 22–24 in Comayagua, bringing together producers and specialists from seven countries to share techniques and technologies; the country's 3,800 organized beekeepers manage about 40,000 hives and produce over 800,000 kg of honey annually.

Remittances to Honduras rose 13.2% to $5.29 billion in the first five months of 2026, the fastest growth among the three Northern Triangle countries, according to International Organization for Migration data.

A UNAH researcher warns that 750,000 Hondurans face severe food insecurity in July–August, while 1.4 million more experience moderate insecurity, with drought and flooding threatening to worsen the crisis.

The president of Tegucigalpa's Chamber of Commerce and Industries says Honduras's newly approved part-time employment law is a step forward but contains ambiguities that limit its effectiveness, and urges government, Congress, and stakeholders to form a dialogue table to strengthen and clarify the law through consensus.

Eastern Honduras onion producers, numbering about 3,000, warn they will resume street protests if the government does not enforce an agreement that limits imports and protects domestic growers from falling prices and lost sales.

The head of the Cortés Chamber of Commerce called for stronger vocational and technical training to match Honduras's labor-market needs, ahead of a July 17 Employability Summit bringing together private companies, schools, and government officials.

Dante Mossi, former president of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, says the government lacks a public strategy to manage ENEE's $1 billion debt to power generators, a $700 million sovereign bond due in January 2027, and roughly $3 billion in stalled infrastructure projects including roads, dams, and hospitals.

Honduras received $6.51 billion in family remittances in the first six months of 2026, a 12.3% increase from the same period in 2025, with over 85% coming from the United States and mothers receiving 38.6% of the total.

The Honduran fuel distributors' association says price reductions take longer to reach consumers than increases because of volatile global markets, summer demand surges abroad, and geopolitical uncertainty around Middle Eastern shipping routes.

Potato prices at Tegucigalpa's El Lempirita market climbed to L25 per pound (about $1 per pound) due to reduced harvests from March-to-May drought, part of broader food-cost pressure straining household budgets.

A Fosdeh economist warns that roughly 37 billion lempiras in unaccounted money emitted by the previous administration could stoke inflation, though he notes that inflation stems from multiple causes including import dependence, fuel costs, and climate-driven agricultural shortfalls.

Honduras expects to earn $2.4 billion from coffee exports by September 30, when the current coffee year ends, with 6.8 million quintals already shipped and 120,000 producers supporting roughly one million jobs across the sector.

The organization Sendas warned that Honduras's planned electricity-sector reform needs a dedicated, autonomous administrator with real decision-making power to implement structural changes, noting that fragmented responsibility across multiple agencies and weak institutional continuity have hindered past efforts.

The private-sector business council estimates that power outages—averaging 21,200 hours of unmet demand annually—cost Honduras about L1.2 billion (roughly $48 million) per year in lost productivity, equipment damage, and generator expenses, while the government pushes stalled reforms to strengthen the state electricity utility.

Agriculture authorities will allow only processed pork products from disease-free zones in Spain, maintaining a ban on fresh pork imports to protect domestic producers and prevent disease entry.

Honduras shipped $3.61 billion in goods in the first three months of 2026, an 11.5% year-over-year increase led by coffee, apparel manufacturing, bananas, and palm oil, according to the Inter-American Development Bank.

Agriculture Minister Moisés Molina announced that Honduras will import 100,000 quintals (about 4,500 metric tons) of beans from Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Brazil to offset a drought-driven 40% drop in domestic production and stabilize prices for a staple of the Honduran diet.

A think tank says Honduras's state power utility loses about 15 billion lempiras (roughly $600 million) a year, blamed on political interference rather than operational needs, as Congress debates an overhaul bill opposed by some lawmakers who fear weakening the company's market role.

The government said strategic bean reserves held by the agricultural marketing institute exceed storage targets by 10–15%, ensuring adequate supply despite drought, and has identified potential import suppliers as a backup plan.

A petroleum-industry analyst predicts diesel and gasoline prices in Honduras will drop modestly over the next four to six weeks as global crude stabilizes around $67 a barrel, with diesel potentially falling about 2 lempiras per gallon.

A month-long drought has cut crop yields across key farming regions and pushed vegetable prices sharply higher at Tegucigalpa's main produce market, with merchants warning of further increases if rains do not return.

The president of Honduras's renewable energy association says the recent electricity rate increase stems from global fuel prices rather than non-renewable generators, and calls for greater investment in clean energy to reduce dependence on imported fuel.

Honduras and the Dominican Republic extended their memorandum of understanding between their investment promotion agencies for another year through July 2027, aimed at attracting foreign investment and strengthening bilateral economic ties.

Honduras has spent only 34% of its 444-billion-lempira (about $16.8 billion) 2026 budget through June, with economists attributing the lag to late congressional approval and urging faster execution in priority areas like health, education, and productive investment.

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.

Transport operators say urban bus fares will remain at 13 lempiras despite recent fuel-price declines, citing other operating costs and a government subsidy three months in arrears.

Year-over-year inflation in Honduras reached 6.09% in May, up 1.55 percentage points from a year earlier, driven mainly by rising fuel prices that accounted for nearly half the overall price increase.