{"id":228743,"date":"2020-10-09T11:29:37","date_gmt":"2020-10-09T15:29:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=228743"},"modified":"2020-10-09T11:29:37","modified_gmt":"2020-10-09T15:29:37","slug":"cuba-ration-book-to-be-eliminated-after-monetary-unification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/cuba-ration-book-to-be-eliminated-after-monetary-unification\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuba: ration book to be eliminated after monetary unification"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel this Thursday confirmed the upcoming disappearance of the ration book after the monetary and exchange unification takes place.<\/span><\/p>\n

Created in 1962 and officially established a year later, the book provides all Cubans, regardless of their income, a number of basic need products per month, although they are not enough to guarantee food and hygiene during that period, which is why people must turn to other ways to meet their needs.<\/span><\/p>\n

The announcement came at a time of economic crisis that has led Cuba to apply a \u201cpartial dollarization\u201d of its economy (a term that D\u00edaz-Canel himself used for the first time today) with controversial measures such as the opening of supermarkets and shops in which local currencies are not accepted and only foreign currency swift cards are used to pay.<\/span><\/p>\n

D\u00edaz-Canel said that the process of monetary and exchange unification will be accompanied by economic components such as the reform of wages and pensions, which will increase to adjust to the foreseeable inflation, and the elimination of what the government considers \u201cunnecessary subsidies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He clarified that monetary and exchange unification would not be the magic solution to the economic and financial problems, but that it will lead to greater efficiency and effectiveness, and that it also means eliminating subsidies and implies a reform in wages, price system and pensions.<\/span><\/p>\n