The decrease in nickel prices and a slowdown in growth in most of Europe affected in 2013 the Cuban economy, which increased in 3% at the end of the year, cipher that will be maintained in 2014, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) reported.
According to the p reliminary o verview of the Latin America and the Caribbean e conomies, that of Cuba will register in 2014 a growth that will remain in the same 3%, matching the previous two years.
The slowdown in the European economy directly impacted the level of tourism on the island, while the decline in nickel prices meant lower receipt of outside income .
This situation would worsen considering the economic, commercial and financial blockade still in force on the Caribbean island, the document states.
According to the international institution, several measures in different sectors of the economy were implemented this year in Cuba , in the context of the Guidelines of the Economic and Social Policy. The implementation of a fiscal policy to rationalize public expenditure, according to the report, managed to reach surplus resources in certain sectors .
Therefore, it is expected this year’s fiscal deficit to close in 3.6% of the gross domestic product (GDP).
Furthermore, supplementary measures were undertaken in the agricultural sector and it was given continuity to the separation process of state functions from the corporate ones in the various ministries.
And finally, it was also promoted the creation of forms of non-state economic management as non-agricultural cooperatives.
To this is added that the state of workers average real wage , which ECLAC ensures that it has remained stable and it is estimated that unemployment is at a similar level to those recorded in 2012 (3.8%).
