Browse Honduras Daily Stories

The proposed 455.4-billion-lempira budget for 2027 would reduce public investment by 17.3% year-over-year to 39.9 billion lempiras (about $1.6 billion), with productive investment falling 34%, according to business-group analysis.

The Honduran private-sector council backs the IMF's 3.3% growth forecast for Honduras this year, citing headwinds including weak US and European growth, climate impacts, energy scarcity, fuel costs, and transport and health-sector labor conflict.

The Honduran business council reported food and beverage inflation of 5.57% in August, citing drought conditions from El Niño and higher transport costs, while overall inflation reached 6.20% and private-sector credit grew 20% through June.

A Cohep executive urged protesters blocking highways to propose solutions instead, arguing that Honduras's fuel-price rise reflects an international situation affecting many countries, since Honduras produces no oil of its own.

Honduras's private-sector council will analyze the draft national budget to assess how funds will be spent, whether increases go toward productive investment or routine expenses, and how the government will finance a $700 million bond payment due in January.

Foreign direct investment in Honduras represents less than 1% of GDP—about $223 million last quarter—while remittances account for roughly 27% of GDP, prompting business leaders to urge steps to attract capital and create formal jobs.

Cohep, Honduras's main private-sector organization, rejected any involvement in a National Congress member Adolfo Ráquel's electricity-sector reform proposal, saying it has not reviewed or endorsed the initiative and will not be held responsible for its technical, legal, or financial implications.

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 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 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 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.

Juliette Handal, former president of Honduras's main business council (Cohep), attributed a first-quarter decline in investment to security concerns, including gang violence and massacres, rising energy costs (set to jump 12%), and international supply-chain disruptions, all of which she said undermine investor confidence.

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.

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.