A report circulated on social media this Saturday warns of a new restriction at the Banco Metropolitano de O'Reilly in Old Havana, stating that the maximum cash withdrawal limit per person has been reduced from 5,000 to only 3,000 Cuban pesos, a sum that is barely enough to purchase a carton of eggs.
The alert was published by the activist Irma Lidia Broek, who shared the video and the report on Facebook after receiving them directly from Havana.
"They have just announced that the maximum withdrawal per person has been reduced from 5,000 to only 3,000 pesos. How are people supposed to live on that? A sack of charcoal already costs between 5,000 and 6,000 pesos, not to mention the food prices that continue to rise every day. This is unsustainable. Cuba is collapsing," wrote Broek on his Facebook profile.
The post sparked immediate outrage among Cubans who commented on it, describing a daily reality of extreme scarcity and banking humiliation.
"This is something only the Cuban people endure: the lack of everything. There's never any cash in the banks, and on the street, getting cash costs you 30-40% in transfers. No state-run center has anything to offer, and private individuals don't receive cash. We are dead while alive," wrote a citizen in the comments.
Another resident pointed out the contradiction between the official discourse and banking practices: "That's how ATMs are set up in Marianao; on top of that, small and medium-sized enterprises don't want to accept transfers, leaving the people suffocated, desperate, and in need of food."
A Cuban woman summarized the situation with bitterness: "That's right, you can't even take out the salary you earned after a month; they give you what they deem appropriate after a huge and exhausting line."
"You can no longer leave money in the bank," stated another citizen in the comments, summarizing in a single sentence the widespread distrust that the regime has generated through years of restrictions, empty ATMs, and endless queues.
If confirmed, the new restriction would exacerbate a banking crisis that has already been deteriorating rapidly. Since August 2023, Resolution 111/2023 of the Central Bank of Cuba set a limit of 5,000 pesos per transaction at ATMs as part of a policy of forced banking. Reducing it to 3,000 pesos represents a setback even against that existing limit.
The basic cost of living per capita in Cuba is estimated at 96,060 pesos per month, while the average state salary is around 6,930 pesos. More than 1.7 million retirees receive pensions ranging from 3,056 to 4,000 pesos per month, which is less than seven dollars at the informal exchange rate, and they face long lines for hours to access that money.
In early June, Fincimex suspended operations with Visa and Mastercard due to U.S. sanctions against institutions linked to GAESA, the conglomerate of the military elite that controls a significant portion of the Cuban economy.
Of the total number of ATMs of Banco Metropolitano in the 15 municipalities of Havana, only about 200 out of more than 500 were operational in June. In Santa Clara, one resident took three days to withdraw just 40% of their salary, according to a report that emerged a week ago.
It is noteworthy that in recent days, the National Assembly of People’s Power approved in an extraordinary session a package of 176 economic measures which included, among other provisions, the elimination of limits on bank withdrawals and the authorization of private banking for the first time since 1959.
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