Honduras Sees the Dollar Break 27 Lempiras for the First Time
Honduras · CURRENCY
Key Facts
- —Rate The lempira exchange rate reached a selling price of L27.0010 on 28 August 2026.
- —Pace The lempira exchange rate has slipped 1.87 per cent so far in 2026.
- —Reserves Net international reserves stood at US$11.59 billion on 27 August 2026.
- —Remittances Honduras received US$7.69 billion in remittances between January and July 2026.
- —Programme The International Monetary Fund cleared two Honduras programme reviews on 29 June 2026.
A round number fell in the lempira exchange rate this week, but the reserves standing behind the currency are at a record high.
The lempira exchange rate broke 27 to the US dollar on 28 August 2026, at L27.0010. It was the first time the Banco Central de Honduras had published a selling price above that line.
What the central bank actually published
The Banco Central de Honduras publishes a daily average price for the United States dollar. On 28 August 2026 the selling side reached L27.0010, the first reading above 27.
The buying side of that same series is the bank’s reference rate, at L26.8667 on the day. The reference rate then eased a fraction, to L26.8661 for 29 August 2026.
A day earlier the selling price had been L26.9875, so the move across the line was tiny. The symbolism, in a country that imports most of what it consumes, was not.
The lempira exchange rate is therefore two numbers, and only one of them has crossed 27. Households and importers meet the selling price at the bank counter.
How far the currency has actually moved
The selling price opened 2026 at L26.5056 and finished August at L27.0010. That is a slide of 1.87 per cent in just under eight months.
Measured against 28 August 2025, when the selling price was L26.1461, the move is 3.27 per cent. The reference rate shows the same two percentages from a slightly lower base.
Central bank president Roberto Lagos put this year’s slippage at about 1.7 per cent, or 43 centavos. He said the currency weakened by roughly 73 centavos in 2024 and about one lempira in 2025.
So the crawl is real, but slower than in either of the two preceding years. The level, rather than the speed, is what changed this week.
The auction band that sets the pace
Banks and exchange houses buy their dollars from the central bank in a daily electronic auction. Bids have to fall inside a band that the bank recalculates for every session.
On 28 August 2026 the band centre stood at L27.1079, with a floor of L26.8368 and a ceiling of L27.3790. The base price that anchors the whole crawl was L27.1770.
The band centre itself passed 27 on 10 July 2026, seven weeks before the retail selling price did. Winning bids have hugged the floor since July 2025, which the bank reads as an easing market.
That is why the lempira exchange rate has drifted rather than jumped. The auction on 28 August allotted US$81.3 million out of US$98.5 million offered.
Dollars are coming in, not draining out
Net international reserves stood at US$11.59 billion on 27 August 2026, on the central bank’s own table. A weekly bulletin had put them at US$11.66 billion on 21 August.
That is cover for 6.7 months of imports of goods and services, above the bank’s own floor of 5.5 months. Reserves are up about US$1.35 billion since late January.
Remittances remain the largest single inflow, and reached US$7.69 billion between January and July 2026. That was 11.2 per cent more than a year earlier, a gain of US$777.5 million.
Over the twelve months to July 2026 remittances came to roughly US$12.99 billion. The central bank expects about US$13.16 billion for the full year.
Where the pressure really comes from
Honduras runs a large goods deficit even when its current account is in surplus. Merchandise imports reached US$8.78 billion by May 2026, against exports of US$5.80 billion.
That gap of US$2.98 billion was wider than the US$2.64 billion recorded a year earlier. Fuel purchases added US$284.9 million, of which US$276.8 million was price rather than volume.
The current account still showed a surplus worth 7.5 per cent of gross domestic product in the first quarter. The bank now forecasts a full-year result between minus 1.0 and zero per cent.
Inflation was 5.58 per cent in July 2026, above the tolerance range of 4.0 per cent plus or minus one point. Falling coffee and palm oil prices trimmed export earnings at the same time.
What business groups and economists said
Paola Díaz, executive director of the Cámara de Comercio e Industria de Tegucigalpa, warned that depreciation raises import costs. She urged a push to export processed goods rather than raw materials.
The Consejo Hondureño de la Empresa Privada, the country’s private sector council, issued its August economic bulletin. It reported growth of 3.9 per cent in the first half, with inflation still above target.
Economist Dante Mossi, a former head of the Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica, called 27 a psychological barrier. He said fuel importers are hit twice, once by price and once by currency.
Roberto Lagos was blunter about the limits of official policy. He said the lempira exchange rate cannot be controlled, because it answers to supply and demand.
The fiscal and Fund backdrop
Honduras has a live three-year programme with the International Monetary Fund, built on two lending windows. Finance Minister Emilio Hernández Hércules put its size at about US$847 million.
The Fund’s board cleared the fourth and fifth reviews on 29 June 2026, unlocking US$242 million. Only the sixth review is left before the arrangement ends or has to be replaced.
Tax collection reached L118,786.3 million (US$4.42 billion) by 21 August 2026, on the private sector council’s figures. That is 63.7 per cent of the target set for the whole year.
The central bank has been tightening in parallel. It raised its reverse repurchase rate by a full percentage point from August and offered more of its own securities.
Why the power sector is watching
Honduras buys almost all of its fuel abroad and pays for it in dollars. Every centavo of depreciation therefore lands on the electricity bill as well as the shopping basket.
The Rio Times reported on 25 August that Congress had about fifteen days to agree an energy reform. The bill would split the state utility into generation, transmission and distribution units.
On 26 August this newspaper reported United States backing for that overhaul, with Liberal deputies split. A weaker currency raises the local cost of the fuel and contracts the utility must cover.
Economist Mario Sosa expects September to be decisive, with a new electricity tariff increase due. He warned that a faster slide would squeeze household budgets harder still.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly crossed 27 lempiras?
The average selling price of the United States dollar in the financial system, published by the central bank. It reached L27.0010 on 28 August 2026.
Is this a currency crisis?
Nothing in the published data suggests one, because reserves and remittances are both rising. The lempira exchange rate is also moving more slowly than in 2024 or 2025.
How does the central bank set the rate?
It runs a daily auction and accepts only bids inside a band that it recalculates each session. The band centre was L27.1079 on 28 August 2026.
Connected Coverage
Sources
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- www.laprensa.hn
- www.laprensa.hn
- www.riotimesonline.com
- www.riotimesonline.com
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