The new government of the president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, does not plan to restructure the country’s huge debt burden and is in a position to meet its payments on schedule, said Economic Development Minister Pedro Barquero.
The leftist leader promised in her inaugural speech on Thursday to solve the debt problems of the impoverished Central American nation, but warned that it would be “impossible” to meet payment deadlines.
However, the official said on Friday that the administration could meet its obligations. “We don’t want to use or restructure or reprofil. What we are going to do is better manage our liabilities,” he said in a telephone interview.
“We have spoken with the international credit organizations and it is clear to everyone that the obligations are going to be paid,” he added.
Honduras faces a public debt of some $15.5 billion, equivalent to almost 60% of its gross domestic product, a problem that Castro frequently highlighted before his landslide victory in November.
Around 7,300 million dollars correspond to external debt, while 8,200 million dollars belong to internal debt.
“The country is not in default,” added Barquero. “We are going to make sure that all the government’s obligations are paid. We are going to pay everything, absolutely everything, including the bonds.”
