The government of the island said the Cuban peso (CUP) will be the only currency circulating in the country, from the gradual elimination of the convertible peso (CUC), equivalent to the U.S. dollar.
The vice president of the Council of Ministers Marino Murillo said during his speech on Friday, before the plenary of the National Assembly of People’s Power, that the program for monetary and exchange rate unification had ended, which allow the Cuban peso to be the sole currency in the country, though he didn’t say when.
Similarly warranties were offered for those who have funds and bank accounts in CUC and he confirmed that it will keep its financial capacity. He said that the monetary union will not be a shock therapy, but not by itself will solve the economic problems of the country.
“Anyone with Cuban convertible peso (CUC), kept both in banks and in the house, will not lose its financial capacity when dual currency is removed,” the official said according to a report from Radio Reloj, major radio station in the island
The announcement of the launch of a “schedule” to eliminate the dual currency prevailing in the island since the 90s of last century, did not involve references to specific dates and other details about the process.
Cuba has two currencies since 1994. The Cuban peso (CUP), in which wages and pensions are paid, and the convertible peso (CUC), the change is equated to the dollar and is 24 times that of the CUP.
“If we fail to achieve a monetary order, it is very difficult to make progress on other things,” Murillo said to the National Assembly.
Raul Castro himself admitted in July the need for reform. “The phenomenon of the dual currency is one of the most important obstacles for the progress of the nation,” the president said then before the Parliament.
Parallel Murillo gave a presentation on the progress of economic reforms initiated in 2010. He reported that they already authorized some 270 non-agricultural cooperatives, which totaled 440 thousand self-employed workers in the country.
He also said Cuba will reduce by 12% the sale of building materials, and that 30 percent of the state budget is financed directly, and 70 with funding from commercial banks, among other issues persuaded to make the maximum from available resources and, above all, to spare no effort to increase the production of goods
During the parliamentary plenary, the 600 deputies also approved a new Labor Code, subject in the months prior to a consultation between workers of the island, this replaces the existing standard since 1985 and in addition to updating its rules gives space to new ways of working in Cuba as self-employment and cooperatives.
This Saturday the parliamentary plenum is expected to end with a speech by Cuban President Raul Castro.
