First modification:
The creation of companies, prohibited on the island since 1968, returned to the national scene in September 2021 as part of government reforms aimed at boosting the economy.
Hundreds of businessmen saw an opportunity to make up for lost time two years ago after Cuban authorities lifted a ban on private businesses that had been in place since shortly after the Revolution.
In the midst of a deep economic crisis, the shortage of food, fuel and medicine has forced the State to promote the creation of private microenterprises, which generally focus on the basics: from construction to food production and tourism. .
But the so-called “MSMEs” are also a controversial figure on the island, where they have been accused, on the one hand, of catapulting inflation and, on the other, of being mostly in the hands of people linked to the Government or the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC, the only legal one).
These companies can be established as state, private or mixed and are recognized as an economic unit with legal personality. However, they are prohibited from accessing fields such as health, telecommunications, energy, defense and the media, areas considered “strategic” by the State.
Food privatization: fuel for inflation?
Many of the “MSMEs” created are food stores, with products that are difficult to find in public stores. But in a country where doctors earn about $28 a month, many of these products are unaffordable.
“MSMEs are very expensive. Excessively expensive for the average Cuban, it is not enough, but they have helped us solve some things, to find some products that cannot be found anywhere else. Unfortunately, we have to go there to find rice or sugar “says one of her clients.
On Tuesday, November 14, the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) reported that year-on-year inflation in Cuba’s formal market stood at 34.13% this October, compared to 39.73% in the same month of 2022.
However, this organization does not reflect the evolution of prices in the majority and best-stocked informal market on the island, which is more affected by inflation due to its absolute lack of regulation and the severe shortage of basic products.
With EFE and Reuters
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