The Granma government admits that it does not have enough money to pay more than 111,000 retirees

The Provincial Government of Granma publicly acknowledged that it does not have the necessary funds to pay the checks for its more than 111,000 retirees in June, in an unusually candid admission for a Cuban provincial authority.

The Provincial Commission for Social Security disseminated the note through a special program of CNTV Granma, in which it admitted that "it has not been possible to reach the more than 400 million pesos in cash that are required" to cover the monthly payment.

The official document indicates that the payment will be made in installments, dependent on the daily cash income received by each bank branch, and that the Banco Popular de Ahorro will organize the collection by groups according to the age of the pensioners.

The most serious situation falls on those who receive payments through the post offices. The payments were supposed to start this Wednesday, but the government itself acknowledged that "the money is still not available in most municipalities of Granma."

Provincial authorities attribute part of the problem to private businesses, which "mostly do not comply with the deposit contracts signed with banks," as well as to the widespread rejection of electronic payments, keeping cash accumulated outside the financial system.

Among the measures adopted since April are daily monitoring of cash inflows at each branch, centralization of authorizations for withdrawals exceeding 5,000 pesos, identification of retirees in vulnerable situations to give them priority, and closure of businesses that do not deposit their earnings.

The Provincial Defense Council also ordered that a government official remain in each bank and post office to explain the situation to the retirees who come to collect their payments.

This crisis in Granma is not an isolated incident. Throughout Cuba, the elderly are forming enormous lines to collect their monthly pension, with ATMs out of service and banks operating on reduced hours due to power outages.

While Granma acknowledged it lacked funds, a bank robbery was reported in Havana during a blackout, just hours before pension payments were set to begin.

The minimum pension in Cuba was set at 4,000 Cuban pesos since September 2025, but inflation and the soaring dollar are sinking the value of the national currency. These 4,000 pesos are equivalent to less than 10 dollars at the informal exchange rate, compared to a basic basket that amounts to around 12,000 pesos per month per person.

The provincial government concluded its statement with a promise: "Perhaps not everyone will receive their payment when they want to, but everyone will get paid."