Honduras' Minister of Finance, Gabriela Nuñez, reported that as of September 30, 2009 the country's foreign debt stood at US$2.457 billion. Of this total, US$489 million is owed to the World Bank (WB); US$455 million to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); US$405 million to the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI); US$263 million to the government of Spain; US$196 million to the government of Venezuela; and US$127 million to commercial banks in Taiwan. During January-September, the Honduran government received seven loans valued at US$163.6 million, with 20% of the funds provided at concessionary terms of credit. Four of the loans were from the IDB and three from the CABEI.
For the sake of comparison, Honduras' foreign debt at the end of 2001 was estimated at US$5.051 billion. At the start of 2006, the debt was estimated at US$5.22 billion. By the end of 2006, the debt was down to about US$3.83 billion, due largely to significant debt pardons negotiated by the government of President Ricardo Maduro (2002-2005) under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program overseen by the WB and International Monetary Fund (IMF). In January 2006, the IMF condoned US$155 million of Honduras' foreign debt. In July 2006, the WB canceled US$1.185 billion of the country's debt.
In December 2007, under the government of President Manuel Zelaya (2006-2009) the Honduran foreign debt was down to US$3.411 billion. By the end of 2008, the debt was down to US$2.9 billion.
Follow us on Twitter
Join our Facebook group
