Luis Silva criticizes banking: "In a month we will see the great result"

The Cuban comedianLuis Silva joined the criticism of the recent bankization imposed by the government, which in theory should serve to encourage the use of electronic collection and payment channels, in the midst of a general shortage of cash.

"Several owners of food importing MSMEs have already begun to cancel their containers. Certain products have already begun to become scarce in private warehouses. In a month, we will see the great result of banking. Because, what the hell does a business owner do, with your money in a bank, without being able to do anything with it? In order to import again, you need to buy dollars. Anyway, the experiments continue," he said.Facebook.

Silva responded to the official journalistLazaro Manuel Alonso, who questioned those people who, according to him, "take advantage" of the crisis "to fatten the digital pocket," and are dedicating themselves to a new type of illicit business to "seek profits at the expense of those who need cash and cannot find it in the cashiers."

"It's not taking advantage.This is what we knew was going to happen.. From the first day of banking, my brother and I commented that this would happen. There are those who make decisions, who are taken by surprise by everything," he stressed.

The actor's reflection joins that of severalCuban economists who strongly criticized the new measures of the government aimed at bankization in the country, which they described as a "financial corralito" and a "whip from the regime to the private sector."

Elías Amor recalled that the increase in the use of cash in economic and financial transactions caused a decline in the levels of banking and financial inclusion, so the government "feels overwhelmed and intends to regain control."

Cuba is going through a cash availability crisis, with thousands of workers and pensioners unable to collect their salaries, entrepreneurs and MSME owners seeing their activity limited and their assets threatened, and long lines at the few ATMs that dispense banknotes.

The president of the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC), Joaquín Alonso Vázquez, announced that theBanking seeks to guarantee that Cubans' money does not leave the institution, after 1,000 million pesos have gone out in the last two years and have not returned.

According to him, the objective of banking is to "make transparent the money that goes out and does not come in," because "all the cash that is staying outside the bank is conducive to not very orthodox activities."

"... it is not opening a bank account for a client, but rather the banking of transactions so that the collections and payments that are executed between all economic actors or between the population and the economic actors, are made using the instruments of existing credit such as checks, letters of credit, etc.," he explained.

Despite the uncertainty and criticism expressed by more and more citizens, the Minister of Economy,Alejandro Gil, declared that the new process "benefits the population", a statement that generated a multitude of criticisms.

"TheBanking is necessary and benefits the population. As explained, cash is not eliminated. The objective is to advance, more quickly, in the conditions to make collections and payments without using cash, which is an important step in the computerization of the country," he said.