The Honduran coup-government approved a general budget on Wednesday of 112.938 billion lempiras (5.6 billion U.S. dollars) for this year, at the first session of its Council of Ministers.
The approved budget represents a reduction of 10 percent of the central government spending and 20 percent at other institutions, for a total cut of 8.2 percent over the previous year, interim Finance Minister Gabriela Nunez said.
Ousted President Manuel Zelaya failed to submit the budget due last September, causing uneasiness in many government institutions.
Nunez said the budget was an effort to maintain state finance because of pending inherited debt obligations of 3.3 billion lempiras (173 million dollars).
Nunez said Zelaya’s government spent some 5.5 billion lempiras (some 289 million U.S. dollars) “without budget support.”
Since the coup against Zelaya on June 28, the international community has frozen various forms of economic aid to Honduras as a gesture of its disapproval.
On July 8, the U.S. government said that Honduras was in danger of losing aid amounting to 50 million U.S. dollars for the current year, as well as 130 million U.S. dollars in funds from the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) for achieving certain development goals.