Customs union to boost Guatemala and Honduras

A Honduran-Guatemalan customs union aimed at boosting prosperity and stemming illegal migration to the United States could lift economic growth in the two countries by more than one percent, the Honduran government said on Monday.

At an event to mark the start of the union in the Honduran border post of Corinto, President Juan Orlando Hernandez said it could increase gross domestic product growth in the nations by about 1.2 percent, citing estimates by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Initially agreed in 2015, the step to facilitate movement of goods and people between the neighboring states should also lift bilateral trade by up to 2.4 percent, Hernandez said alongside his Guatemalan counterpart, Jimmy Morales.

Source: Reuters