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Juan Carlos Sikaffy, the president of a leading private sector lobby in Honduras, Consejo Hondureño de la Empresa Privada (Cohep), has warned that measures implemented by the government in March to contain the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19) have cost the economy at least L80bn (US$3.2bn). Cohep estimates that 296,000 people have been fired due to the economic shutdown, and quotes Sikaffy as calling for the urgent reopening of the economy, with strict biosecurity protocols in place. A week ago, President
Juan Orlando Hernández ruled out reopening the economy outright as of 1 June, with the country set to remain under lockdown, calling instead for a reopening in phases and by region, with consultation from epidemiologists and the national risk management system (Sinager). The latest projections from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac) forecast that Honduras's economy will contract by 2.8% in 2020.
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