Honduras is attempting to recover economically, and rebuild the infrastructure that was significantly damaged by hurricane Mitch in 1998. Poverty is high for this Central American nation impacting upwards of 75 percent of its 7 million civilians.
Economic Statistics
GDP as measured by purchasing power parity stands at $20.5 billion USD with corresponding GDP/Capita at $2,900 USD. Market GDP has some estimates at $8 billion USD. GDP growth rates have year 2005 at 4 percent while GDP growth for 1999 fell 3 percent due to fallout from Hurricane Mitch. Inflation quotes include year 1997 at 15 percent, 1999 at 12 percent and 2005 at 9.2 percent. Current account deficit was high at 9.5 percent of GDP in year 1998, the dollar figure shortfall for 2005 was approximately $450 million USD. High national debt load (2002). Unemployment stands at 28 percent.
CURRENCY: ISO Symbol ‘HNL’, Honduran lempira, also known as the “Lemp”. At time of review on January 12, 2006, the lempira had an exchange value of 18.895 HNL to the US-dollar (USD). Unlike a few other Central American countries, Honduras said ‘NO’ to US-dollarization in April 2002. It should be noted that the US-dollar is still widely used as national currency in Honduras, an unofficial parallel currency. Currency regime in place is a managed float. As measured by purchasing power parity, the lempira was approximately 30 percent undervalued to the USD in May 2004.
CURRENCY HISTORY: historical valuations for the lempira include: year 1993 at 7.26 HNL to the USD, 1994 at 9.4, 1995 at 10.34, year 1996 at 12.87, 1997 at 13.09, December 1998 at 13.89, January 2000 at 14.6, January 2001 at 15.13, January 2002 at 15.96, January 2003 at 16.96, January 2004 at 17.78 and January 2005 at 18.86.
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UPDATED: January 12, 2006
