AGL 40.00 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
AIRLINK 127.04 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BOP 6.67 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
CNERGY 4.51 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
DCL 8.55 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
DFML 41.44 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
DGKC 86.85 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
FCCL 32.28 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
FFBL 64.80 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
FFL 10.25 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
HUBC 109.57 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
HUMNL 14.68 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
KEL 5.05 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
KOSM 7.46 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
MLCF 41.38 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
NBP 60.41 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
OGDC 190.10 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
PAEL 27.83 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
PIBTL 7.83 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
PPL 150.06 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
PRL 26.88 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
PTC 16.07 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
SEARL 86.00 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
TELE 7.71 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
TOMCL 35.41 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
TPLP 8.12 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
TREET 16.41 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
TRG 53.29 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
UNITY 26.16 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
WTL 1.26 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 10,010 Increased By 126.5 (1.28%)
BR30 31,023 Increased By 422.5 (1.38%)
KSE100 94,192 Increased By 836.5 (0.9%)
KSE30 29,201 Increased By 270.2 (0.93%)

imageTEGUCIGALPA: Honduras expects its economy to grow up to 3.5 percent this year and its fiscal deficit to fall, and hopes to sign a three-year credit deal with the International Monetary Fund, the head of the country's central bank said on Friday.

The Central American country, which is one of the poorest in the Americas and has the world's highest murder rate, has struggled with public debt that has more than quadrupled since 2008 and a fiscal deficit that ended last year at 7.9 percent of gross domestic product.

"In 2014, we're planning for growth of between 2.5 and 3.5 percent, and the same for 2015," central bank President Marlon Tabora said at a news conference, adding that telecommunications, agriculture, manufacturing and trade would drive the growth.

Honduras' economy grew by 2.6 percent in 2013. The central bank expects the fiscal deficit to fall to 5.2 percent of GDP this year, and 3.3 percent in 2015, Tabora said.

In December, the Congress of Honduras signed off on the biggest tax overhaul in more than two decades, and the plan is expected to generate nearly $800 million a year in tax revenue. The soaring public debt of Honduras, the region's top coffee exporter, has led to nationwide strikes by unpaid doctors and teachers.

Tabora also said Honduras was ready to renegotiate a credit deal with the IMF, and hoped it would be signed this year after the fund finishes its analysis of the country's economy.

"We hope it will take as short a time as possible. We hope to reach a three-year agreement," he said.

A roughly $200 million IMF credit deal expired in March 2012, and Honduras failed to strike another after struggling to meet the fund's requirements.

Comments

Comments are closed.