The Cuban press\u00a0echoed\u00a0on Thursday,\u00a0October 24, 2013\u00a0the\u00a0beginning of the end\u00a0of dual currency. Many people\u00a0breakfasted\u00a0listening to\u00a0Ariel\u00a0Terrero,\u00a0a journalist\u00a0specializing in\u00a0economic issues, explaining on\u00a0national\u00a0television\u00a0the\u00a0official note\u00a0published\u00a0on Tuesday,\u00a0October 22.<\/p>\n
Terrero, who was translating\u00a0economic\u00a0technicalities\u00a0to\u00a0conversational Spanish,\u00a0began by recalling\u00a0that there are “in\u00a0Cuba\u00a0, both\u00a0dual currency\u00a0as\u00a0dual\u00a0exchange rates, and that creates\u00a0a huge amount of\u00a0distortion, especially in\u00a0the\u00a0business\u00a0sector of the economy,\u00a0which have effects on\u00a0the rest\u00a0of the economy.\u00a0“<\/p>\n
To\u00a0dispel doubts,\u00a0Terrero\u00a0slowly said\u00a0the\u00a0Official\u00a0Note\u00a0“clearly states\u00a0that we are in\u00a0the beginning\u00a0of the entry into force of\u00a0a set of measures\u00a0to establish\u00a0monetary and exchange rate\u00a0unification.\u00a0In other words:\u00a0at the start\u00a0of the schedule.\u00a0“<\/p>\n
He noted that\u00a0it\u00a0will require\u00a0certain\u00a0gradualness\u00a0in steps,\u00a0because “we are talking about\u00a0really\u00a0solid\u00a0changes\u00a0, which\u00a0can be complex.”\u00a0He mentioned that\u00a0new\u00a0legal\u00a0and accounting\u00a0standards\u00a0should be\u00a0developed.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0Cuba, companies\u00a0and all entities\u00a0that handle\u00a0money\u00a0operate with\u00a0double counting,\u00a0that ”\u00a0usually\u00a0obscures reality\u00a0of the functioning and\u00a0economic efficiency\u00a0of enterprises.”<\/p>\n
“Moving towards monetary\u00a0and exchange rate unification, at one time, will\u00a0actually\u00a0have as one of\u00a0its main virtues\u00a0the\u00a0creation of transparency\u00a0in economic sector.”<\/p>\n
One benefit\u00a0of this measure,\u00a0according\u00a0to\u00a0Terrero, will be the\u00a0establishment of “new exchange rate\u00a0that is\u00a0more in line\u00a0with reality.”\u00a0Terrero\u00a0said\u00a0that\u00a0we must find\u00a0a point of\u00a0monetary convergence\u00a0that\u00a0“really\u00a0expresses the reality\u00a0of Cuban economy\u00a0especially\u00a0for the business sector.”<\/p>\n
Currently,\u00a0in\u00a0Cuba\u00a0there are two\u00a0exchange rates:\u00a0the\u00a0one in\u00a0force\u00a0for companies\u00a0(one Cuban peso (CUP) corresponds to\u00a0one\u00a0convertible peso (CUC)),\u00a0and\u00a0the one\u00a0decreed\u00a0for\u00a0natural persons\u00a0throughexchange houses\u00a0(CADECA), which tells that 25 CUP corresponds to 1 CUC).<\/p>\n
Terrero\u00a0explained\u00a0that Cuban economy\u00a0today has\u00a0both\u00a0strengths and weaknesses\u00a0to perform this step\u00a0.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Cuban Central Bank\u00a0(BCC by its Spanish acronym),\u00a0on its website, said that\u00a0the elimination of\u00a0dual currency\u00a0“is linked\u00a0to Cuban economic growth,\u00a0the increased\u00a0deficit financing\u00a0by\u00a0Current Account\u00a0of the\u00a0Payment\u00a0Balance\u00a0(…)\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0increasing of international reserves\u00a0to acceptable levels.\u00a0“<\/p>\n
The economist\u00a0Pavel\u00a0Vidal, former\u00a0BCC Monetary\u00a0Policy Committee specialist,\u00a0wrote that\u00a0“to eliminate\u00a0dual currency\u00a0we must\u00a0devalue CUP official exchange\u00a0rate,\u00a0unify it\u00a0with CADECA\u00b4s exchange rate\u00a0and give\u00a0it convertibility\u00a0in the business sector.”<\/p>\n
Terrero\u00a0added\u00a0that\u00a0at an early stage,\u00a0the first steps\u00a0will be directed\u00a0to legal persons, that is, the business sector\u00a0and\u00a0the state\u00a0budgeted\u00a0units.\u00a0He recalled that, according to the\u00a0note,\u00a0some\u00a0experiments will be developed\u00a0in some places,\u00a0so that people\u00a0could\u00a0buy using CUP\u00a0which\u00a0today\u00a0is sold\u00a0in\u00a0CUC.<\/p>\n
Near the end\u00a0of his explanation,\u00a0Ariel\u00a0Terrero\u00a0cited ”\u00a0something very important” from the\u00a0speech\u00a0in which\u00a0Raul\u00a0Castro\u00a0predicted\u00a0proximity\u00a0of\u00a0monetary unification\u00a0and its consequences.\u00a0“The elimination of\u00a0monetary and exchange rate\u00a0unification\u00a0will enable\u00a0undertaking\u00a0greater scope and depth\u00a0transformations\u00a0in wages\u00a0and pensions,\u00a0prices and tariffs,\u00a0subsidies and\u00a0taxes.”\u00a0*<\/p>\n
*Quoting Ariel\u00a0Terrero\u00b4s words.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Cuban press\u00a0echoed\u00a0on Thursday,\u00a0October 24, 2013\u00a0the\u00a0beginning of the end\u00a0of dual currency. Many people\u00a0breakfasted\u00a0listening to\u00a0Ariel\u00a0Terrero,\u00a0a journalist\u00a0specializing in\u00a0economic issues, explaining on\u00a0national\u00a0television\u00a0the\u00a0official note\u00a0published\u00a0on Tuesday,\u00a0October 22. Terrero, who was translating\u00a0economic\u00a0technicalities\u00a0to\u00a0conversational Spanish,\u00a0began by recalling\u00a0that there are “in\u00a0Cuba\u00a0, both\u00a0dual currency\u00a0as\u00a0dual\u00a0exchange rates, and that creates\u00a0a huge amount of\u00a0distortion, especially in\u00a0the\u00a0business\u00a0sector of the economy,\u00a0which have effects on\u00a0the rest\u00a0of the economy.\u00a0“ To\u00a0dispel doubts,\u00a0Terrero\u00a0slowly said\u00a0the\u00a0Official\u00a0Note\u00a0“clearly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":16542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[33532],"class_list":["post-16654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n