During the first meeting of the Council of Ministers this year, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and president of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel, assured that the objective is to advance with coherence in the implementation of the economic measures, and to be able to address the social, ideological and economic problems, with comprehensiveness in the analysis.

They will be large-scale processes that begin with a discussion by party members, covering all administrative structures, and also the workers’ and students’ organizations, and the population in the communities; therefore, the whole Cuban society will be involved in these debates, he noted.

The president added that the exercise will allow reflecting, evaluating and proposing solutions to the problems in each place with rigor and creativity.

Díaz-Canel stressed that “the measures are necessary and cannot be postponed, because they correct deep distortions and structural deviations that hinder the performance of Cuba’s economy”.

He rejected the attempts by the enemies of the Revolution to present the Cuban Government’s projections as a neoliberal package, in the style of other processes in the region and the world.

Prime Minister Manuel Marreo, in turn, defined the economic projections as the country’s policy and assured that it is a process of transformation of the Government’s work.

According to the Organization Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, Roberto Morales, the discussion process will contribute to reaffirming the need and strategic importance of unity, exemplarity and combativeness in the revolutionary ranks.

In this regard, Minister of Economy and Planning Alejandro Gil emphasized that the measures are not fundamentally about price increases, but include the necessary boost to productive activity, an increase in national production, exports and foreign currency income and macroeconomic stabilization.

So far, he explained, the salary measures to stimulate the permanence of workers in the Health and Education sectors have been implemented, as well as the extension, until March 31, 2024, of the tariff exemptions for the imports of food and cleaning products by natural persons, without commercial character.

Also published in the Official Gazette are the legal norms that establish a 50-percent reduction in the tariffs on the imports of raw materials and intermediate goods, and an increase in the tariffs on the imports of tobacco, cigars, rums and liquors.

The regulations that will allow the reordering of local development projects, as well as advancing in the presentation of proposals to resize the exchange market, the intervention of the informal market and the control of the exchange rate in the country, including the determination of the exchange rate and price formation, will be updated in February.

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