Tegucigalpa, Honduras
The National Congress on Thursday approved a new loan in favor of the National Electric Power Company (ENEE) in the amount of 2,700 million lempiras.
According to the delegates, this new debt is intended to cover the financial obligations of the state energy company.
The loan will give the country access to new sources of funding by complying with agreements with the International Monetary Fund, the bill said.
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Against the loan
Jari Dixon, deputy of the Partido Libertad y Refundación (Libre), wondered: “how is it possible that we continue to make the ENEE debt. Nowadays people are no longer there to pay so much electricity, they don’t even have to eat “
Liberal party lawmaker Karla Melari said she is against a new debt, arguing that she has heard multiple complaints from Hondurans who have faced excessive charges on their energy bills.
“We cannot understand how it is possible to vote on an increase in electricity, we have approved many increases, there is a lack of knowledge and the population is more stifled by these excessive costs,” he said.
You’re ahead
The coordinator of ENEE’s intermediate committee, Rolando Leán Bú, argued that the new loan is for the state energy company to meet its financial responsibilities.
“It is almost impossible to face the energy that we buy, for which we have made so many commitments, today we have to go out and pay for it,” Bú said in the virtual session of the National Congress.
Finally, he indicated that during the pandemic period, the ENEE did not conduct power cuts to people with outstanding debts, while ruling out that the credit approved today would lead to an increase in the electricity tariff.