Honduras to Bolster its National Statistics System with IDB Support

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a $50 million loan to Honduras to increase the use of official statistical information in government and private-sector decision making.

The Program to Support the Population and Housing Census and Strengthen the National Statistics System aims to improve the relevance, timeliness, reliability and accessibility of official statistical information, as well as strengthen the National Statistics Institute.

The program, which has been approved by the IDB's Board of Executive Directors, has three components. The first will support the National Population and Housing Census, including pre-census activities, census enumeration and post-census activities. The second will finance work to collect updated data on the agricultural sector for the integrated agricultural statistics system. The third and final component will focus on technical and institutional strengthening for the National Statistics Institute.

This initiative will benefit Honduran society—including the government, civil society, the private sector and academia—with information that is up-to-date and disaggregated by demographics and geographical areas. The government will be able to use this information to design, implement and monitor public policies.

Of this $50 million IDB loan to Honduras, $32.5 million is ordinary capital, with a 25-year repayment term, a 5.5-year grace period, and an interest rate based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR). The remaining $17.5 million is concessional capital, with a 40-year repayment term and grace period and a 0.25% interest rate.