Cuba raised the price of fuel by 500%

The Minister of Finance of Cuba, Vladimir Regueiro Ale, announced last Monday a drastic increase in fuel prices, exceeding 500%, along with a 25% increase in the electricity tariff for consumers exceeding 500 kWh.

With this measure, the retail price of regular B90 gasoline and regular diesel rose from 25 Cuban pesos to 132 Cuban pesos. Also, the special B94 gasoline saw an increase from 30 pesos to 156, and the special diesel rose from 27.5 pesos to 150.

During his intervention on the Round Table program, Regueiro Ale justified these actions as a strategy to “correct distortions” in prices, which, according to the news portal Cubadebate, had become outdated and affected the entire economy.

The Minister pointed out that many import prices, including those of fuel, had experienced an increase that was not adequately reflected in the Cuban economy. He also mentioned that a number of State-owned enterprises had incurred losses due to the centralized pricing policy.

Regueiro Ale reported that these increases were partly due to the reduction of state subsidies and that they would be implemented gradually to allow a constant assessment of the impact on the economy and the population.

The official highlighted that measures have been designed to mitigate the impact of these increases, offering specific protections to individuals or families in vulnerable situations, rather than maintaining a blanket subsidy.

Finally, Regueiro Ale emphasized that these measures are not isolated, but part of a broader program aimed at revitalizing the Cuban economy, considering the country’s own resources and limitations.

K. Tovar

Source: Descifrado

(Image reference: Dawn McDonald, Unsplash)

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