Browse Honduras Daily Stories

The government announced imports of beans from Brazil, Nicaragua, and Paraguay to prevent shortages affecting 1.7 million people facing food insecurity, but an agricultural anthropologist warns the strategy undermines local farmers and discourages domestic production.

Gasoline, diesel, and kerosene prices increased across Honduras starting July 20, with sector officials attributing the hikes to Middle East instability affecting global oil supplies and urging consumers to adopt fuel-saving measures.

Customs revenue from import duties (DAI) surged 18% year-over-year, reflecting stronger commercial activity and modernization efforts by the Customs Administration to streamline procedures and reduce processing times.

Honduras is planting 1,000 manzanas (about 700 hectares) with high-yield certified rice seed imported from the Dominican Republic in a pilot program costing roughly 5 million lempiras (about $187,000) to improve grain quality and reduce import dependence.

Finance Secretary Emilio Hernández Hércules said Honduras is proceeding with an open auction of the presidential aircraft and plans to issue up to 16 billion lempiras (about $640 million) in bonds, with proceeds aimed at paying accumulated debts to electricity generators and addressing the state power utility's financial crisis.

A year-long drought has reduced agricultural supply and driven up prices for everyday produce, with the basic food basket rising 6.16% (about 800 lempiras / $30) since June 2025, and the food-security observatory warning that 2.8 million Hondurans could face food insecurity by year-end.

The Inter-American Development Bank ranked Honduras among the region's fastest-growing exporters in early 2026, led by coffee, apparel manufacturing, bananas, and palm oil, though it warned of risks from market volatility and rising costs.

Honduras executed only 33.4% of its national budget in the first half of 2026, a shortfall economists attribute to Congress's late April approval, which delayed state investment in health, education, and infrastructure.

A World Bank report shows digital employment and remote work are growing in Central America but remain limited outside Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, held back by poor connectivity, lack of devices, and weak digital skills in most countries.

The Inter-American Development Bank says Central American and Dominican economies face heightened global volatility and must build fiscal space, strengthen currency flexibility (especially Honduras and Nicaragua), and shore up foreign reserves to cushion external financial shocks.

Honduras's Energy Ministry lowered prices for gasoline, kerosene, diesel, and vehicle liquefied petroleum gas effective June 23, while maintaining a temporary subsidy on domestic cooking gas to protect household budgets amid volatile global crude markets.

A CEPAL report finds Guatemala and Honduras have the highest rates of multidimensional poverty in Central America—measuring deprivation in health, education, housing, employment, and services—with Honduras at 12% and Guatemala at 28.9%, and both countries showing severe housing overcrowding above 40%.

At a job fair in Tegucigalpa, older workers reported facing age discrimination despite their experience and credentials, while hundreds of applicants across all demographics struggle with high unemployment and a shortage of formal-sector positions.

President Nasry Asfura declared the state power company's financial losses and accumulated debt the country's chief economic concern, pledging to stabilize operations while keeping it publicly owned and freeing resources for health, education, and infrastructure.

Honduras's power regulator confirmed a third-quarter rate increase taking effect July 1, driven by higher generation costs, fuel prices, and lempira depreciation; the exact percentage will be announced within days.

Honduras's customs authority collected nearly 29 billion lempiras (about $1.09 billion) in the first six months of 2026, up 13.4% from the same period last year, driven by increased import duties and technological upgrades to reduce evasion and contraband.