Cuba announces unification of circulating currencies.
The island's government announced on Tuesday, the 22nd, that it will begin a process of unifying the Cuban peso and the convertible peso, currencies that have circulated in the country for 19 years.
Leandra Felipe
Correspondent Agência Brasil/EBC
Bogotá – The Cuban government announced today (22) that it will begin a process of unifying the Cuban peso and the convertible peso, currencies that have been circulating in the country for 19 years. “The Council of Ministers [Executive] reached an agreement to put into effect the schedule for implementing the measures that will lead to monetary and exchange rate unification,” says a note published in the official newspaper Granma.
According to the statement, the decision is the result of a meeting of the ministerial cabinet held last Saturday (19), with the Cuban president, Raúl Castro.
Currently, the Cuban peso (CUP) circulates in the country, with which most of the population receives salaries and pays for goods and services, and the Cuban convertible peso (CUC), a strong currency comparable to the dollar.
The government announcement clarifies that bank savings will be respected for those who have legally obtained currency in CUP and CUC. "No measure adopted in the monetary field will harm people who have obtained their income lawfully," the statement emphasizes.
The government did not specify the exact start date of the process, but said that the first phase will target the business sector and state institutions, to encourage producers of goods and services to export and substitute imports. "Monetary and exchange rate unification, in itself, is not a measure that solves all the current problems of the economy, but its implementation is essential to guarantee the restoration of the value of the Cuban peso and its functions as currency," the statement emphasizes.
The two currencies have been in circulation since the authorization of the dollar in the country in August 1994. With the CUC, companies and the government sell imported products and charge for tourism services. Currently, 1 CUC is equivalent to 24 CUP, which is equivalent to the value of the dollar. According to experts, the circulation of two currencies in the country creates distortions in the financial market and affects the purchasing power of the population.
Based on information from the Cuban official newspaper Granma.
Editing: Nadia Franco