Tegucigalpa.
He trade deficit The Honduran government stood at $ 3,877.8 million for the first eleven months of 2020, 28.1% less than the same period of 2019 (5,395.4 million), the country’s Central Bank (BCH) reported Tuesday.
The entity indicated that the contraction is mainly justified by the “decline in national economic activity as a result of the COVID-19, which in turn reduced imports of goods. “
Despite the adverse effects of the global health crisis and the damage from tropical storms Eta and Iota last November, exports of goods increased 1.3% between January and November 2020 to $ 3,849.7 million, compared to 3,800. 3 million in the same period of 2019, he added.
The increase in exports is due to increased sales of bananas, palm oil, gold and cigars (tobacco), according to the central bank.
Imports, meanwhile, fell 16% to reach USD 7,727.4 million, compared to 9,195.7 million in the same period of 2019.
The decline in imports It is the result of fewer purchases of raw materials, capital goods and intermediaries and inputs, the Honduran entity added.
The Central Bank pointed out that the United States was Honduras’ main trading partner in the first eleven months of 2020, as that market generated $ 1,416.2 million, followed by Latin America with 1,066.6 million.
It is followed in third place by Europe with $ 1,034.1 million, Central America with $ 844.4 million and in fifth place by the rest of the world with $ 219.5 million, according to the Honduran organization.
Honduras’s main suppliers are the United States, Central America, Europe, and some Latin American countries.
The main product of Honduras’ export is coffee, a country that sold 7.2 million bags and received $ 900 million in the 2019-2020 harvest.
In the 2020-2021 harvest, the country expects to harvest just over 8.9 million bags of coffee, 750,000 of which are destined for domestic consumption in the country and the remaining 8.2 million are exported.
Honduras, the largest producer of aromatics in Central America, sold approximately $ 61 million in the first two months of the 2020-2021 harvest, compared to 101 million in the previous period, and exported 471,000 quintals of the grain (46 kilograms), according to the Honduran Coffee Institute (Ihcafe).