Honduras will not be eligible for Millennium Development Goals, says Roberto Lagos

Honduran economist Roberto Lagos, who lives in the United States, announced on Sunday that the Government of Honduras would be failing the Millennium Development Goals Corruption Indicator , and would therefore not be eligible to receive the resources provided by the global initiative.

Through his X account, Lagos reported that the country would be compared against 28 countries for the evaluation of the Millennium Account this year, according to the document called ‘ Guide to the MCC Scorecard Indicators for Fiscal Year 202 5′ which was published on November 8.

“After carrying out the respective analysis that I have carried out since 2019, Honduras will be ranked 24th out of the 28 countries evaluated , therefore, it would FAIL the corruption indicator of the Millennium Development Goals since it would be ranked in the 14% percentile,” explained the economist.

He added that the absolute indicator of corruption registered its worst evaluation since it began to be measured by the World Bank in 1996.

However, Lagos explained that the only reason Honduras improved a couple of percentiles in the rating is because it is no longer part of the lower middle-income category , but is instead moving into the category of middle- and high-income countries.

“Let us remember that in order to be eligible for resources, the Corruption Indicator must be approved, as established in the methodology. Therefore, based on the methodology, Honduras will not be eligible for resources from the Millennium Development Goals ,” he said.

Honduras has been eligible to receive Millennium Development Goals funds in the past. Between 2004 and 2009, the country received Millennium Development Goals funds and used the funds to build the CA-5 highway between Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, as well as to finance several agricultural programs.

To qualify for the  Millennium Development Goals,  a country must pass 10 of the 20 indicators assessed by the U.S. program, including the one on corruption control.

It does not surprise the ruling party

During his participation in the TSi 30/30 program , the deputy of the Liberty and Refoundation Party (Libre, in power) and vice president of the National Congress (CN), Hugo Noé Pino , said that for him it is not new news.

“I think this had already been announced, Minister Marcio Sierra himself had already said that Honduras would not enter the Millennium Development Goals this year . For me this is not new news ,” said Pino.

For his part, the leader of the Liberal Party (PL), José Luis Moncada , pointed out that the evaluation of the Millennium Account Corruption Indicator is based on whether there are complaints, acts of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) or the Superior Court of Accounts (TSC).

“But I believe that the criteria are broader, for example, for Hondurans, the President of the Republic is assigned a confidential sum of 17 billion lempiras annually, without reporting to a large extent where it goes, that is, to a large extent it creates suspicion in anyone,” said Moncada.

For her part, the congresswoman of the opposition National Party (PN), Merary Díaz, reproached that during the more than three years of government of the current administration, the Corruption Index of the Millennium Challenge has not been approved.

” In three years of government, the indicators of corruption, transparency or democracy have not improved and we see countless actions that are consequences of the fact that today we are once again not in a Millennium Challenge issue. Here the hypocrisy of those who govern today is taking its toll,” said Díaz.