On its front page, the bimonthly newspaper “Kommunist”, organ of the Communist Party in Denmark (Kpid), highlights a discussion of the Cuban Ambassador to Denmark, Roger López García, on the economic reordering with the party.
Cuba implements economic and social development strategy
The effects of the international economic crisis, deepened by the pandemic, and the tightening of the US economic, commercial and financial blockade have had a harsh impact in Cuba. This policy, promoted by the Trump administration, has caused damage of more than 5 billion dollars in a year, a doubly genocidal act in a period of global alarm over the spread of the deadly viral disease.
The country has had to face the impact of the lack of tourist arrival for months, as a consequence of the expansion of COVID-19, which seriously has affected foreign exchange earnings and the Gross Domestic Product. Meanwhile it has had to spend a great amount of thousand million Cuban pesos and another millions in dollars to maintain the national public health system.
Because of this, the Cuban government worked urgently to create a Social Economic Development Strategy according with the real problems in the present circumstances.
The Strategy is based on fundamental principles of the Cuban socialist economic model, but seeks to eliminate obsolete practices. It is based on maintaining the centralized planning of the economy, although giving greater autonomy to the business sector aimed at boosting national production, stimulate competitiveness, efficiency, and savings.
The Council of Ministers defined 16 key development areas, among which food production is included with priority, as well as the sugar agro-industry, tourism, professional services, the biopharmaceutical industry and biomedical productions, telecommunications and energy, among others.
At present it is essential to boost agricultural and food production, promote exportation, strengthening the state company, expand the non-state sector, and encouraging programs of territorial development.
Monetary Reform
An essential step to advance the Strategy is the monetary and exchange unification in the country, putted into practice on January 1, 2021.
Cuba dismantle its current two-teer monetary system, leaving the traditional peso as the only official currency of the land at an initial exchange rate of 24 to 1 US dollar.
The monetary overhaul, with the Cuban peso as the only national currency, is an indispensable measure to boost the country’s development.
To cushion the impact on the people of the monetary unification, State officials have been telling the nation lately that the process to do away with the CUC will take six months.
The people’s resources in CUC either in hand or in saving bank accounts will be respected at the current exchange rate, which is 24 CUPs to one CUC.
Due to the effects of the Covid-19 and the US blockade, the Cuban Government opened retail shops in hard currency with the use of personal banking cards in an effort to collect foreign monetary assets.
The monetary unification is part of a broader program, known as economic reordering, that envisions too, a wage rise, in conjunction with a price hike equivalent to the salary raise, tariff increase, change in subsidy plans, among other economic measures designed to respond to Cuba’s reality, prop up the economy and boost development.
The Cuban State will not neglect any of the country’s citizens, asserting welfare programs and social plans will be in place to help those with less monetary income.
The elimination of excessive subsidies and undue gratuities within the monetary system will be carried out in Cuba gradually and protecting vulnerable sectors, a government practice in force today on the island.
The wages will not only support the calculated increase in prices, but also improve pensions and social security benefits.
This process also modifies the distribution of income that aims for salaries to be the main source of wealth and income, that guarantees to cover the needs of workers and their families.
From now on, people and not products will be subsidized and later a deeper analysis will make it possible to determine from the income of each family who really needs help to cover the cost of basic products.
To that end, a group of important subsidies valued at about 30 billion pesos are maintained. Among the goods that will have financial support from the government are those that are specifically delivered to children from zero to six years old.
Even when there is a controlled rise in prices of goods and services, this will be in proportion to the increase in wages, pensions and social security.
The year 2021 will be a very important to try to boost the Cuban economy, despite the adverse conditions in the international environment.
Cuba is waging a battle against the effects of the economic crisis and the blockade. We are still fighting to maintain our independence and sovereignty with popular participation thinking on equality and social justice.
@CubaMINREX
Embacuba Dinamarca
