国际英语新闻：Honduras, EU sign economic agreement on public finance, aid

TEGUCIGALPA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Honduras and the European Union (EU) Tuesday signed an economic agreement worth 60.5 million euros (80.4 million U.S. dollars) to improve the Central American country's budget.

"This is the first of several agreements that we are going to release in the coming months," EU representative to Honduras Peter Versteeg said.

Versteeg also said that Honduras' agreement with the International Monetary Fund, the improvement in public finance management, and the country's planning efforts enabled the signing of this agreement.

As part of the national development plan, the money to be invested in education, basic health and poverty reduction will further improve the management of public finances.

"The idea is to expand coverage and assure that the poorest people have access to basic services of education and health," Versteeg said.

The agreement was signed during the Council of Ministers meeting hosted at the Honduran Presidential House on Tuesday morning.