Press Release No. 06/36

Press Release: IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato to visit Honduras on February 27, 2006

February 23, 2006

Mr. Hunter Monroe, the Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund in Honduras, issued the following statement today in Tegucigalpa:

"Mr. Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), will visit Honduras on February 27, 2006, at the invitation of the President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales.

"In Tegucigalpa, Mr. de Rato will meet President Zelaya, as well as the authorities, legislators, Cardinal Rodriguez, and representatives of the private sector and civil society. Mr. de Rato previously visited Honduras as Managing Director in July 2004 (see Press Release No. 04/141).

"On December 16, 2005, the IMF Executive Board completed the third review of Honduras' performance and the financing assurances review under an SDR 71.2 million (about US$102.7 million) Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) arrangement approved on February 27, 2004 (see Press Release No. 04/29 and Press Release No. 05/280).

"On December 21, the IMF Executive Board approved debt relief for Honduras under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (see Press Release No. 05/295). This amounts to approximately US$154 million, or US$141 million excluding remaining assistance under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative."

For more information on the Fund's activities in Honduras, please see the new web page of the IMF office in Tegucigalpa at www.imf.org/Tegucigalpa.