Honduras requests development bank membership in search of financing

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpBy Gustavo Palenciap

pTEGUCIGALPA Reuters – Honduras requested membership of the CAFDevelopment Bank of Latin America, the organization reported Thursday, as leftist President Xiomara Castros administration seeks financing to alleviate severe budgetary imbalances left by her predecessor.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

pCastro, who took office in January, must tackle a public debt of almost 15.7 billion, or 59.3 of Honduras Gross Domestic Product GDP.p

pMore than 30 of the national budget must go toward paying off the debt, according to finance ministry officials.p

p“The government of Honduras formally expresses its interest in becoming a member of CAF, with the aim of having various financial tools and instruments available,” the government wrote in a letter addressed to and published by the development bank.p

pThe letter mentions Castros desire for Honduras to form part of the CAF “within the shortest possible time.”p

pAt the beginning of the year, the Honduran Congress approved the government to take on some 2 billion in internal and external debt to handle the imbalances in public finances over the next two years.p

pThe CAF, based in Caracas and established in 1970, is made up of 20 countries, 18 from Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Spain and Portugal, and 13 private banks in the region.p

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pp Reporting by Gustavo Palencia in Tegucigalpa Writing by Kylie Madry in Mexico City Editing by Stephen Coatesp

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