The Cuban Government announced this Wednesday an increase in taxes on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) for the import of finished products, but a 50 percent reduction in the case of the import of raw materials and intermediate goods, with special focus on agricultural and other food production.
Some of the products whose import will see their tariff rate increased for MSMEs are tobacco, cigars, rums and beers, among others.
Regarding the 50 percent reduction of tariff rates on the import of raw materials, the Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, indicated that They are even willing to lower it further or eliminate it “in some specific product that really goes directly to the people at a rational and fair price.”
Marrero said that the tariffs applied to Cuban entrepreneurs until now were discreet.
Another announcement during the Commission for Attention to Services in the National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP) was the formation of a government institution to supervise the work of MSMEs.
The senior Cuban official affirmed that the initiatives are not intended to negate what has been implemented so far, and indicated that with the new changes what is desired is that there are gains for all entities.
Crusade against MSMEs
In recent days the Cuban government had already announced a crusade against the MSMES that import finished products, after recognizing the failure of the “economic order”, as well as the impossibility of achieving the projected growth of 3% for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP),
“The massive importation, in a disorderly manner, of finished products or products ready for sale, more than the solution of a great problem for the people, has been a difficulty, which does not lead us to reduce inflation and it has not led us to diminish prices”, acknowledged the prime minister.
Manuel Marrero made a balance of the impact of MSMEs on the Cuban economy and concluded that the proliferation of “new economic actors” promoted by the regime has not led to the creation of more national wealth, nor to the creation of a significant volume of jobs.
“We have approved 72 state companies to care for them and any non-state actor, the tariffs are extremely low. Why hadn't they gotten on? Because we did not want that cost of the tariff to be reflected in the prices for the population,” said Marrero Cruz, and pointed out that “these stimuli have not been reflected in the final price” that Cubans pay.
“We are going to regulate that; We are going to make a group of decisions that encourage everyone who imports raw materials to produce in Cuba and discourages everyone who imports products ready for sale, especially those produced in the country.”, he warned.
The leader was outraged by the “exaggerated profit margins” of the “new economic actors,” to whom he promised an exhaustive audit of their accounting books.
“That is an issue that must be resolved, because in no country in the world do people with small and medium-sized businesses become millionaires. It cannot be that you, from one day to the next, want to become rich,” Marrero Cruz concluded before the deputies of the National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP).
In August, the president of the ANPP, Esteban Lazo Hernandez had already criticized the import of finished products by MSMEs:
“Of the more than 8,500 MSMEs that we have, the majority are marketers, that is, they they do not create wealth in the country. If they buy finished products, it is logical that the prices they set later have to be high,” Lazo Hernández said then.
Cuban small and medium-sized private companies tripled the sale of goods and services in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period of the previous year, according to official data.
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