Cubans are bracing themselves for possible increases in the prices of electricity and fuel or a reduction in state-sponsored rations as the government struggles to cope with a worsening cost-of-living crisis.
This was signalled in remarks by President Miguel Díaz-Canel speaking recently in the Cuban National Assembly.
Saying difficult measures were needed for difficult times, the President’s statement came as the government reported that Cuba’s economy had contracted between 1% and 2% this year, and inflation was running around about 30%.
“This is a question of complicated measures, as complicated as are these times,” President Díaz-Canel said. “I emphatically deny that this is a neo-liberal plan against the people, nor a crusade against small businesses, nor an elimination of the basic market basket,” he assured Cubans.
Although subsidised, fuel prices especially are already running unusually high, with fears that this is having a knock-on effect on the country’s vital tourism industry.
Hotel rates and taxi fares are among the hardest hit.
Tourist arrivals are still down compared to pre-coronavirus pandemic numbers.
There has been a noticeable increase in the number of people leaving the country, many following a complex route via neighbouring islands to Central America, seeking to get into the United States as refugees.
Cuba has been in the grips of a decades-old American trade embargo - since the 1960s - the longest in modern history. It has further complicated attempts to reform the economy despite a series of measures initiated during the Fidel Castro regime and since then.
The country was already hit by dwindling reserves and when the pandemic hit, food production suffered a further setback from which it’s still trying to recover.
The details of the changes due to come into effect in 2024 have not yet been announced but are expected to be among the most far-reaching in years affecting prices for water, electricity, liquid gas, transportation and fuel.
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