Ap

The newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, July 18, 2024, p. 22

Havana. Cuba will take measures such as selling tourist services in foreign currencies or charging tariffs to private importers in those currencies, although this will imply a partial dollarization of its economy, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero acknowledged yesterday.

This government’s vision is not at all to dollarize the economy.but in this scenario We need to follow this path to ensure that one day the Cuban peso recovers its value.the official said, insisting that the island lives in a war economy.

Cuba is going through a severe crisis that has persisted for almost five years and has left the State without foreign currency and with few resources to meet its expenses or support its accounts.

Marrero, whose speech was broadcast on state television and reported by official media, spoke at length at the first plenary session of the People’s Power Assembly – Parliament – ​​to report on the measures taken by the government in the midst of an inflationary process that reduced purchasing power and increased shortages and deficiencies of all kinds.

Among the measures announced is the introduction of payment in dollars for non-state importers; payments in this currency will be gradually implemented for port services and the acceptance of cash in foreign currencies will be permitted in key sectors such as tourism.

In the opposite direction, the use of the Cuban peso will be mandatory for all transactions within the country.

Marrero did not indicate the date from which these measures would come into effect but insisted that the plans will be gradual, as was already done at the beginning of the year with the increase in electricity, fuel and transportation rates. He revealed that in 2023 the non-state sector – which must use state agencies to operate – imported goods worth 1.3 billion dollars, while up to June 2024 they had done so for 936 million dollars.

Since the State does not sell dollars to these businessmen, they buy them on the black market.