The Cuban informal market recorded new historic highs in currency exchange rates this Saturday: the dollar reached 655 Cuban pesos (CUP), the euro reached 750 CUP, and the freely convertible currency (MLC) reached 440 CUP, according to data published this morning.
The figures confirm a relentless rise that began on June 5, when the dollar was quoted at 610 CUP and the euro at 690 CUP. In just eight days, the dollar has accumulated an increase of 45 CUP (+7.4%) and the euro by 60 CUP (+8.7%), with consecutive daily increases that have provided no respite.
Informal exchange rate in Cuba Saturday, June 13, 2026 - 06:30
- Exchange rate of the dollar (USD) to Cuban pesos CUP: 655 CUP
- Exchange rate of the euro (EUR) to Cuban pesos CUP: 750 CUP
- Exchange rate from (MLC) to Cuban pesos CUP: 440 CUP
The rate of increases is the biggest concern: on Wednesday the dollar was at 635 CUP, on Thursday at 640 CUP, on Friday at 650 CUP, and today it has added five CUP more to end the week at 655 CUP. The euro followed the same pattern: currencies unleashed with a new spike on Wednesday, 730 CUP on Thursday, 740 CUP on Friday, and 750 CUP this Saturday.
Exchange Rate Evolution
This rise in speed indicates a structural shortage of foreign currency in the informal market, where supply fails to meet demand. The causes are multiple and reinforce each other.
Tourism, the main source of foreign exchange for the island, has plummeted: between January and April 2026, only 328,608 visitors arrived, a 55.8% decrease compared to the same period in 2025. Chains like Meliá and Iberostar have ceased hotel management in Cuba, and airlines from Canada and Russia have suspended operations. Hotel occupancy fell below 10% in some reports from earlier this year.
This is compounded by an unprecedented energy crisis. Miguel Díaz-Canel himself acknowledged that in the last five months, only one oil tanker has arrived in the country, which has caused blackouts of up to 20-24 hours a day in several provinces and has halted much of the production. The International Monetary Fund projects a contraction of the Cuban GDP of 7.2% in 2026.
The result is an economy that generates increasingly fewer foreign currencies while the internal demand for dollars and euros remains unabated, driven by informal dollarization and distrust in the Cuban peso.
Since January 2026, when the dollar was valued at 435 CUP, the US currency has risen by 220 CUP, equivalent to an increase of 50.6% in just over five months. With an average monthly salary of 6,930 CUP, a Cuban needs nearly 94 days of work to purchase 100 dollars at today's informal exchange rate.
On Friday, Díaz-Canel announced a package of economic reforms focused on tourism and opening up to capital from the diaspora, but analysts deemed them “too late, poorly executed, and insufficient” to halt the decline.
In early June, when the dollar had not yet exceeded 630 CUP, an economic analysis warned that the currency could reach 650 CUP before the end of the month. Reality surpassed that prediction in less than a week.
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