Cuban motorists fill their gas tanks at a gas station in Havana, January 31, 2024 (AFP/YAMIL LAGE)
The more than 500% increase in fuel prices in Cuba will finally come into effect on March 1, a month after the date initially planned, the government announced Wednesday.
“From March 1, the measure to update retail fuel prices will come into force,” announced the Minister of Finance and Prices, Vladimir Regueiro, quoted by the state daily Granma on its website.
Mr. Regueiro also confirmed from this date a 25% increase in electricity for the largest consumers. These decisions are part of a series of measures announced in December by the government to try to reduce the country’s budget deficit.
The abrupt announcement of fuel prices, initially scheduled for February 1, caused long queues in January in front of Havana gas stations.
The authorities finally announced at the end of January the indefinite postponement of the measure, citing a “cybersecurity incident in the computer systems”.
A few days later, the Minister of Economy, Alejandro Gil, was dismissed from office.
According to this reform, the liter of ordinary gasoline will increase from 25 Cuban pesos (20 cents) to 132 pesos (1.10 dollars), an increase of 528%, while the liter of super, currently at 30 Cuban pesos (25 cents) will cost 156 pesos (1.30 dollars), or +520%.
On the other hand, the price of fuel for transport professionals remains unchanged. An increase in the price of gas has also been postponed.
At the end of December, the government admitted that it could not continue to sell fuel at “subsidized” prices, while the country, under American embargo, was cruelly lacking in foreign currency.
This increase aims to guarantee “a stable supply”, justified the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, in a country which experiences chronic shortages.
The island of eleven million inhabitants is experiencing its worst economic crisis in thirty years, due to the consequences of the pandemic, the strengthening of American sanctions over the past four years and the structural weaknesses of its centralized economy.
Gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 2% in 2023, according to the government, and inflation reached 30%.
© 2024 AFP
Did you like this article ? Share it with your friends using the buttons below.
