Havana. Cuba’s Council of Ministers discussed the status of the implementation of new economic measures. The “measures to correct distortions and stimulate the economy” adopted in December are due to enter the next phase this month. President Miguel Díaz-Canel announced that “no institution or procedure” will be without a point of contact with the package.
The first economic results of the new year are not good, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero explained at the meeting. However, the plan for 2024 was developed in the knowledge that the situation remains difficult and that external factors will not change. “We have to look for internal solutions to our problems and we cannot say now that the non-compliance with the budget is because the blockade or the international crisis has worsened,” Marrero said.
Cuba’s Deputy Minister of Economy, Mildrey Granadillo de la Torre, said that additional individuals and families in vulnerable situations are currently being identified who will benefit from targeted support in the future. As the news portal “Cubadebate” reports, 189,169 families with a total of 350,472 people are currently receiving some form of state support. These include, for example, the use of nursing homes and outpatient care, access to discounted meals or programs for pregnant women. In the future, the products from the state supply booklet (Libreta) will only be available at a greatly reduced price for vulnerable groups.
Other planned innovations that will be worked on in March include a “re-sizing” of the currency market, new contract rules for the marketing of agricultural products and the creation of an institute for private economic actors. As the deputy minister emphasized, “each individual measure will only be introduced once the conditions have been established”. This includes both public relations work and the planning of its effects on the population. The principle should be maintained “that no one is left unprotected”.
Marrero explained that ways must be found to prevent the situation of people in precarious social situations from being worsened by any of the measures.
The reforms are intended to get the socialist country’s economy back on track for growth after four years of crisis. As a first step, salaries in the health and education sectors were significantly increased in January and new import tariffs were introduced for alcohol and tobacco products. On March 1st, after a month-long postponement, new fuel prices and higher electricity tariffs for heavy consumers were introduced.