The increase in consumer prices will close at 70% in 2021 in Cuba, reported on Tuesday the Minister of Economy, Alejandro Gil, when presenting his report to the National Assembly of People’s Power (parliament).
“We will obviously end up with a rate of inflation above 70%, “Gil said, explaining that much of the increase was due to the fact that since January the government raised prices by 44% as part of a monetary reform.
Cuba It concludes its first year after having implemented this reform, officially called Monetary Regulation, which implied an average salary increase of 450%, but also a rise in prices.
The minimum salary was established in January at 2,100 pesos a month ($ 87) and at the end of the year the average salary in the country will be at 3,934 pesos a month (about $ 163).
The official considered that inflation was due to external factors due to the pandemic in the world and the intensification of the United States economic embargo against the island, since Donald Trump came to power and that his successor Joe Biden has not modified.
The minister reiterated that GDP growth of 4% is expected in 2022, with a gradual recovery of the economy and a rehabilitation of the tourist industry, the island’s economic engine.
In 2021, the economy grew 2%, below the 6% expected by the authorities at the beginning of the year.
“Why was the economy unable to sustain that growth? Because of the blockade, because of the intensification of the blockade, the measures that were imposed on us and the restrictions on access to fuel to the country,” said the minister who admitted, however, that there are various aspects of the reform to correct.
The effect of this painful reform was one of the triggers of the historic demonstrations of July 11, when people took to the streets shouting “We are hungry” and “Freedom” in some 50 cities of the country.
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Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx