{"id":224518,"date":"2020-07-16T15:16:21","date_gmt":"2020-07-16T19:16:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=224518"},"modified":"2020-07-16T15:19:05","modified_gmt":"2020-07-16T19:19:05","slug":"cuban-economy-will-fall-8-due-to-pandemic-according-to-eclac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/cuban-economy-will-fall-8-due-to-pandemic-according-to-eclac\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuban economy will fall 8% due to pandemic, according to ECLAC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Help us keep OnCuba alive here<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The Cuban economy<\/a> will fall 8% in 2020 due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).<\/p>\n

In a report that updates the figures expected for the region this year as a consequence of COVID-19<\/a>, ECLAC placed Cuba in the group of countries most affected, along with Venezuela (-6%), Peru (-13%), Argentina (-10.5%), Brazil (-9.2%), Mexico (-9%), Ecuador (-9%), El Salvador (-8.6%), Nicaragua (-8.3%) and Chile (-7.9%).<\/p>\n

The decline forecast for the island by ECLAC last April was 3.7%, but more than two months later the forecast for the fall has doubled, despite the fact that Cuba has managed to contain the disease and has already started de-escalation in search of economic recovery.<\/p>\n

In May, the Cuban government had recognized the negative impact of the pandemic on its economy, already hit by other factors such as the U.S. embargo and the recent measures of the Trump administration, the crisis of its ally Venezuela and internal inefficiency. Then, the Council of Ministers approved readjusting the economic plan of the year to \u201clead the country more objectively.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAn economy with zero tourism and an increase in the blockade (of the United States) cannot continue working normally and that nothing happens,\u201d said the Minister of Economy Alejandro Gil, who explained that due to the spread of COVID-19, \u201ceverything we had planned\u201d could not be done and \u201csome activities would have to be postponed, slow the pace of others and prepare for recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, in the articles published in the official press, estimates of the possible economic contraction in 2020 due to the coronavirus were not mentioned. Officially, the island\u2019s authorities forecast a GDP growth of 1% at the end of this year, but that figure has not yet been publicly readjusted.<\/p>\n

Gobierno cubano reconoce impacto econ\u00f3mico de la pandemia, en art\u00edculo reaparecido en prensa oficial<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n