Cuban Minister of Economy Alejandro Gil Fernández announced this Thursday before Parliament that micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) reached some 166 million dollars in terms of imports in the first four months of the year.
When giving details of the foreign trade operations carried out by non-state forms of management, Gil specified that the figure comes from a total of more than 270 million dollars in imports, of which 61.6% corresponds to MSMEs.
Regarding exports, these forms of management achieved the even higher figure of 4,788,500 dollars, the minister pointed out during the second Extraordinary Session of the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP).
🗣️@AlejandroGilF Resume la necesidad de:
– Incrementar la producción nacional de alimentos;
– Estabilidad del Sistema Electroenegético Nacional;
– Avanzar en el programa de estabilización macroeconómica;
– Generar más ingresos en divisas en el país.#EconomíaCubana pic.twitter.com/nKqxVz0uMw— Ministerio de Economía y Planificación de Cuba (@MEP_CUBA) May 25, 2023
He said that in recent years there has been an increase, month after month, in the level of imports of these forms of management. Just in the last two months they have exceeded 80 million, a rate that aspires to exceed the figure of more than 100 million in the course of the year, Gil said, quoted by official media.
According to the minister, there is a trend towards importing final goods and not inputs and raw materials.
Correcting distortions
He drew attention, however, to these imported goods ready for sale to the population, often at high prices.
“This is a matter that we must analyze in depth, because although it is true that it is approved that the new forms of management can import for their production, in recent months there has been a trend towards imports for direct marketing,” he emphasized.
The non-state sector, he added, must contribute to the development of the country’s economy and current distortions must be corrected.
Empresarios españoles en Cuba: “Queremos trabajar estrechamente con los emprendedores cubanos”
To date, there are 7,880 MSMEs operating within the Cuban business system, as of its implementation since September 2021, as part of the update of the prevailing economic model for more than six decades, an EFE report said.
Although they can engage in a wide range of activities, they are not authorized to do so in areas considered strategic by the government, such as health, telecommunications, defense, and the media.
285 state enterprises with losses
Alejandro Gil also addressed other issues regarding the country’s economic situation, such as the “insufficient” sale of foreign currency to the population, which has remained at the same levels of up to 100 dollars per purchase; and about the behavior of state enterprises, he said that 285 of them have losses.
In addition, he addressed speculation in the prices of products, particularly food, in line with a decrease in the production levels of root vegetables, garden vegetables, eggs, milk, rice, and beans.
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