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🇭🇳 Honduras /Economy & Trade

Several basic necessity products increase in price this week

From Proceso Digital · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Several basic necessity products in Honduras, including tomatoes, squash, beets, and eggs, have seen price increases this week.
  • A producer and merchant reported that the price of a pound of tomatoes rose by two lempiras to 20 lempiras, while squash increased by five lempiras to 25 lempiras per unit.
  • Merchants warn that these products may become scarce in the coming weeks due to drought, despite government claims that prices remain at minimal levels.

Prices for essential goods in Honduras are climbing, with key items like tomatoes, squash, beets, and eggs becoming more expensive this week. Santos Hernández, a producer and merchant at a Tegucigalpa market, noted that the price of a pound of tomatoes has risen by two lempiras to 20 lempiras. Similarly, squash now costs 25 lempiras per unit, an increase of five lempiras from the previous week. A bunch of beets has gone up by three lempiras, now selling for 28 lempiras.

The price of a pound of tomatoes increased by two lempiras compared to the previous week, now selling for 20 lempiras.

— Santos Hernández, producer and merchantExplaining the recent price increase for tomatoes.

The price of a carton of 30 eggs has also seen a significant jump, now costing 104 lempiras for large-sized eggs, an increase of six lempiras. Medium-sized eggs are priced at 94 lempiras per carton, while small eggs are at 84 lempiras, also reflecting a six-lempira rise.

the most worrying thing is that due to the drought these products could become scarce in the coming weeks.

— Santos Hernández, producer and merchantWarning about potential shortages due to drought.

Merchants are expressing concern that the ongoing drought could lead to shortages of these products in the upcoming weeks. Despite these price hikes and potential scarcity, government officials maintain that the cost of basic necessities remains at its lowest levels. Danilo Lou, director of Consumer Protection, stated that the basic food basket in Tegucigalpa's zonal Belén market costs around 8,600 lempiras, a figure significantly lower than those reported by consumer advocacy groups.

the basic food basket in the zonal belén market in Tegucigalpa is priced at around 8,600 lempiras.

— Danilo Lou, director of Consumer ProtectionPresenting the government's assessment of the basic food basket cost.

However, consumer organizations dispute these official figures. Adalid Irías, president of the Citizen Initiative for the Defense of Food (Defco), claims the basic food basket actually costs 16,700 lempiras. Darwin Ponce, president of the Consumer Protection Foundation Article 19, agrees, stating that a basic food basket for a family of five in Honduras now exceeds 16,000 lempiras. Ponce further asserted that Honduras has the most expensive basic food basket in the Americas, making it unaffordable for citizens earning the minimum wage, which ranges between 12,000 and 14,000 lempiras.

the cost of the basic food basket is currently 16,700 lempiras, well above the minimum wage.

— Adalid Irías, president of DefcoContrasting the government's figures with consumer group data.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Proceso Digital in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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