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Cuba had planned to start February with strong increases in fuel and transportation, but the Ministry of Economy decided to delay the measure due to a cyber attack suffered by a state company. The decision cost Alejandro Gil, who was in charge of the Economy portfolio, his job. The dismissal was promoted by the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Cuba postponed “until further notice,” according to the Government, the stipulated increases for fuel and public passenger transportation rates, both land and air. The measure, which should come into effect on Thursday, February 1, cost the Minister of Economy, Alejandro Gil, who had been the director of that portfolio since 2018, his job.
The Council of State, under the direction of the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, appointed the president of the Central Bank, Joaquín Alonso, 60, to replace Gil, who destroyed the adjustment plan that the Government had announced, to make him in the face of the crisis suffered by the island, mired in high inflation and registering a significant fiscal deficit.
The Government's great 'shock' plan was announced to give a new direction to the country's economy, after closing 2023 with a drop in the gross domestic product (GDP) of between 1% and 2%, a fiscal deficit projected for this year of 18.5% and without tourism reaching the figures reached before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The measures were going to quintuple the price of fuel, that is, the increases were going to be between 400% and 450%. While the increase in interprovincial bus tickets was going to be 400%, 600% in the case of rail and 468% for internal flights on the island.
The country suffers from a deep shortage of basic goods (food, medicine, fuel), as well as frequent electricity blackouts, rampant inflation greater than 31% at the end of 2023, and a strong depreciation of the local currency in the informal market.
With EFE and Reuters.
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