HAVANA: Communist-run Cuba put on a brave face Saturday at a mid-year session of the National Assembly, the government insisting it would not let a growing financial crisis and mounting pressure from the administration of President Donald Trump thwart development. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said upon closing the meeting on Saturday that a series of emergency measures announced this month aimed to stimulate domestic production and he hoped for slight growth this year.
“Even in the eye of the hurricane of adversity that the enemy conceived to suffocate us, the Cuban economy can grow slightly, thanks to the fact that we have the potential to resist and continue advancing in our development,” he said, referring to the measures. Diaz-Canel said the economy grew 2.2% in 2018, compared with an earlier estimate of 1.2%, and that stronger base would make it harder to reach this year’s goal of 1.5% growth. He gave no figure for the first half of this year, when some European diplomats believe the economy went into recession.
The emergency measures include salary and pension raises for more than 2 million civil servants and pensioners, along with efforts to financially stimulate state-run businesses and municipal level output to meet the increased annual demand of more than 8 billion pesos the raises will generate.
Cuban economist Ricardo Torres termed the measures positive because they “indicate that the government intends to go beyond the condemnation of the United States and become more proactive.” At the same time, Torres said “price controls that will accompany the raises in hopes of blunting inflation show the government is still relying on administrative versus financial and market mechanisms.” (agencies)
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