Honduras seeks to improve the quality of life of the poorest population with IDB support

• A $45 million investment project seeks to ensure minimum levels of quality of life for vulnerable people in the face of the crisis caused by COVID-19 and hurricanes Eta and Iota.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a project for Honduras to support minimum income levels and help the quality of life of vulnerable people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and by the effects of hurricanes Eta and Iota last November.

Despite a relative dynamic economy prior to the crisis, Honduras maintains a high level of extreme poverty and one of the highest informality rates in the region, with only 17% of the population contributing to social security, a scenario that has worsened as a result of the pandemic.

To help the country respond to these needs, the approved operation will support the implementation of the main social protection program in Honduras, the Bono de Vida Mejor Cash Transfer Program (PBMV), which targets households in extreme poverty. The loan will guarantee the financing of 25% of the program’s rural households. In addition, the project will strengthen the Honduran government’s G2P (government to people) payment platform, implemented by the Honduran Bank for Production and Housing (BANHPROVI), helping to expand its coverage and facilitate the payment of the Bono de Vida Mejor cash transfer in rural areas.

The project will also expand the Cuídate Program, which promotes sexual and reproductive health, actions to promote equitable gender relations in the home, as well as the prevention of gender and intra-family violence. In addition, it will expand the Emprendiendo una Vida Mejor Program, which accompanies the PBVM cash transfer with training in entrepreneurship and financial education, to help increase the poorest rural households’ consumption and savings, income generation during the period of recovery from the pandemic.

The operation seeks to directly benefit 72,000 rural households in extreme poverty with the Bono de Vida Mejor cash transfer, 2,000 couples with the Cuídate Program and 1,000 households with the Emprendiendo una Vida Mejor Program.

The project responds to the digital economy, and gender and diversity pillars of the IDB Group's 2025 Vision, as well as the roadmap for the economic recovery of Latin America and the Caribbean, by offering technological solutions that allow the delivery of more inclusive social services and programs with special attention to girls and women affected by the pandemic.

The $45 million project has a disbursement period of two years and an interest rate based on LIBOR.