The Cuban government established the payment of tariffs in foreign currency for imports in the non-state sector as part of a new package of economic reforms, announced this Wednesday by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz.
In the third regular session of the National Assembly in its tenth legislature, Marrero Cruz announced the measures of the regime in its umpteenth effort to stay afloat economically.
In addition to payments in foreign currencies - in Cuba, payments are made in national currency - the former Minister of Tourism also stated that they will implement - gradually and selectively - charges in foreign currency for port services.
At the same time, they reported that they will accept cash in foreign currency in certain sectors and activities, such as tourism, despite the banking process they have been promoting for the past few months, which has not yielded positive results.
The measures come just a few hours after ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel announced a "restructuring" plan for the private and state sectors, due to the "irresponsible manner" in which some of these institutions are being managed.
Díaz-Canel insisted that it is not about a witch hunt against a specific form of management or ownership; but the official discourse has been targeting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for some months now, especially those that import finished products or do not comply with price controls.
A few days ago, the regime implemented price caps on six basic high-demand products through a resolution published in the Official Gazette of Cuba, imposing fines of up to 8,000 pesos for those who do not comply with the order.
Just say this: the Ministry of Finance and Prices imposed 4,332 fines on private businesses violating prices between July 12 and 13, for an amount exceeding 13 million pesos, as reported by the official newspaper Granma.
Authorities and inspectors from said entity carried out 11,891 inspections to verify compliance with retail prices.
In that line, Vladimir Regueiro Ale, head of the sector, stated that the inspections covered the entire country: The detection of violations was at 41.7%, with a total of 4,954, although 4,332 fines were imposed, amounting to over 13 million pesos, he stated.
In addition to the fines imposed, 354 forced closures were implemented — 187 in Havana —, 53 temporary suspensions of establishment operating permits, and 21 seizures, mostly targeting those who were operating illegally, according to the aforementioned media outlet.
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