Honduran private sector concerned over low use of infra budget

Honduras' private enterprise council (Cohep) has warned that the country looks likely to end up spending less than half of the infrastructure budget that was approved for 2023.

Only 25% of the infrastructure budget has been used so far this year, according to Alejandro Kafatti, representative of the economic policy department of Cohep. 

“More than 16bn lempiras [US$643mn] was approved for investment, but to date only 4bn lempiras [has been spent]. Our calculations are that it is highly likely that only 48-50% will be used by the end of the year,” he was reported as saying by daily La Tribuna. 

“The low spending is concerning because, in a nutshell, it's very likely that the economic goals of the Honduran central bank won't be achieved,” he said. “We [Cohep] have insisted on the need to fuel public investment, but that doesn't seem to be a priority for the economic cabinet.”

Last week President Xiomara Castro shared her concerns about low budget use by the ministries with members of her cabinet, as only 25.5% has so far been spent, newspaper La Prensa reported. 

“I am truly concerned when I see the index of budget execution of the institutions that you [the cabinet of ministers] lead,” she added.