Honduras to Strengthen Customs Management with IDB Support

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a $50 million loan to increase customs collection and customs controls in Honduras. The operation will foster trade and boost the country's economic growth and competitiveness.

The program’s goal is to improve the efficiency of Honduras’s Customs Administration (ADUANAS), which was set up in 2020, by strengthening management and institutional governance.

It will also support control processes, automation and the use of technologies to reduce fiscal fraud. It will increase the information technology resilience of customs operational management by modernizing its technological infrastructure and developing an information security strategy.

The project will benefit the country by equipping customs with innovative tools to improve its revenue collection capacity and contribute to financing public policies. Foreign trade operators will also benefit from gaining access to higher-quality customs services.

Foreign trade plays a key role in the country's economy, accounting for about 88% of gross domestic product. In 2021, Honduran trade reached $25.25 billion, of which 40% were exports and 60% imports.

Honduras faces competitiveness and logistics performance challenges. According to cross-border trade data from the World Economic Forum, in 2020 it took 108 hours in the country to comply with export border procedures and 96 hours for import procedures, compared to an average in Latin America and the Caribbean of 55 and 56 hours, respectively. The number of inspections increases the time and costs of foreign trade.

The $50 million loan, from the IDB’s ordinary capital, has a for a 40-year term, with a 5.5-year grace period and interest based on SOFR.