Best bank: Ficohsa
While Honduras has shifted its political allegiance to China – it ended diplomatic relations with Taiwan in an attempt to win investment from the Asian superpower – its real problems lie closer to home. The economy is stuck in a remittances trap, with annual payments from its diaspora back to the country worth almost 30% of GDP, which is the highest ratio in the region.
AfE 2024
These remittances provide the state with a vital source of hard currency but also do little to improve productivity and local jobs, and arguably create a perverse disincentive to improve domestic services and employment prospects. In 2023 the economy grew 4% which, in nominal terms seems to represent respectable progress, but considering the country’s low base (GDP per capita was $3,330 in 2023) this has done little to improve the massive 64.1%