The price of the dollar, euro, and MLC has dropped in the informal Cuban market.

Since the announcement of the price cap on six basic products last week, the trend of foreign currencies in the informal market has been a moderate decline.

Current events
CiberCuba's writing

16/07/2024 - 8:28am (GMT-5)

Cargando — Dollars and euros (Reference image)Photo © Pexels

Dólares y euros (Imagen de referencia) © Pexels — Dollars and euros (Reference image)Photo © Pexels

On July 16th, the average selling price of currencies in the Cuban informal market began with a moderate decline for the three currencies.

At 7:00 a.m. (local time) on Tuesday, the dollar is priced at 314 CUP, six pesos less than the previous day.

The euro has also fallen, in this case to 330 pesos, five pesos less than yesterday.

The Freely Convertible Currency (MLC) also decreases, dropping to an average of 280 pesos.

Exchange rate today 16/07/2024 - 1:20 a.m. in Cuba:

Exchange rate of the USD to CUP according to elTOQUE: 314 CUP.

Exchange rate of the euro EUR to CUP according to ELTOQUE: 330 CUP.

Exchange rate from MLC to CUP according to EL TOQUE: 280 CUP.

The informal exchange rate of Cuba offered here is not officially recognized or backed by any financial or governmental entity.

Attempts by the Cuban government to "correct distortions."

For months, the Cuban government has not commented on the fluctuations in currency prices in the informal market. Beyond sporadic attacks against the independent media outlet elToque for revealing currency movements.

What the regime has focused on in recent weeks is "correcting" what it describes as "distortions" in non-state management.

In this sense, the Council of Ministers approved six decree-laws in recent days that update the legal provisions for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), self-employed workers, and private sector companies in Cuba.

Last week, the Cuban government imposed a price cap on six basic high-demand products through a resolution published in the Official Gazette.

Resolution 225/2024 of the Ministry of Finance and Prices establishes that the capped products are the following: chopped chicken (680 pesos per kg); edible oils except for olive oil (990 pesos per liter); powdered milk (1,675 pesos per kg); pasta (835 pesos per kg); sausages (1,045 pesos per kg) and powdered detergent (630 pesos per kg).

The regime presented the resolution as an effort to mitigate the impact of inflation on consumers, for which it also eliminated the payment of customs duties on the imports of those products by the private sector.

They indicated that this cap takes into account acquisition costs, marketing, the merchants' profit, and sales tax. However, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and some economists have spoken out against the announcement.

The measure has been criticized mainly by entrepreneurs and economists, who warn about the negative consequences of price caps and suggest that the market should be regulated through supply.