Honduras The Economy
Headdress of a noblewoman atop a stela, Copán
HONDURAS IN 1993 remained one of the poorest nations in
the Western
Hemisphere. Since colonial times, the Honduran economy
has, for the
most part, been based on one commodity--minerals before
1900 and
bananas throughout the first half of the twentieth
century. As is
true for most underdeveloped countries whose livelihood
depends on
one export item, the Honduran economy depends on world
prices for
its main export product. Despite attempts at agricultural
diversification, bananas remained the country's primary
export in
the early 1990s, leaving the country at the mercy of
market
fluctuations. The government has attempted to stimulate
the
manufacturing sector and expand assembly operations, but
these
efforts have been only moderately successful. The country
hence
still lacks a dependable source of economic growth.
Lack of resources, lack of arable land, and a small
domestic
market continue to impede economic progress in Honduras.
Most
significantly, Honduras lacks abundant natural resources;
only land
appears to be plentiful and readily exploitable. But the
presence
of apparently extensive land is misleading because the
nation's
rugged, mountainous terrain restricts large-scale
agricultural
production to narrow strips on the coasts and to a few
fertile
valleys. Honduras's manufacturing sector has not yet
developed
beyond simple textile and agricultural processing
industries and
assembly operations. The small domestic market and
competition from
more industrially advanced countries in the region have
inhibited
more complex industrialization.
Data as of December 1993
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