The Cuban regime officially announced on Friday an increase in salaries for the budgeted sector, with the publication of the corresponding resolutions in Official Gazette No. 60 Ordinary of 2026.
According to the official newspaper Cubadebate, the measure increased the minimum wage from 2,100 to 3,210 pesos per month, a rise of 53% that affects more than a million workers in Health, Education, Culture, and Public Administration.
The , signed on July 15 by Minister Jesús Otamendiz Campos, set the new minimum wage at 3,210 pesos per month and establishes a minimum hourly rate of 16 pesos and 84 cents.
The validity started on July 1, although workers will not see the new amounts reflected until the August payment.
The Deputy Minister Ariel Fonseca clarified at a press conference that "this is a salary increase for the budgeted sector, not a general salary reform," and explained that this sector has historically been unable to implement the salary transformations enacted in state-owned companies.
Guillermo Sarmiento, director of Labor Organization at the ministry, explained that the salary scale is updated across its 32 groups, adhering to the progressive pyramid: Group I increases from 2,100 to 3,210 pesos, while Group XXXII rises from 9,510 to 14,535 pesos.
In addition, a structural change was announced: from now on, the minimum wage will be reviewed annually based on inflation, and the update will also impact pensions and social assistance benefits.
Sarmiento himself acknowledged that the 3,210 pesos "are still insufficient to cover the basic basket of goods and services," although he described the adjustment as "a significant effort" given the context of the economic crisis. The total cost of the measure exceeds 42,000 million pesos annually, according to official figures.
The reality Cubans face contrasts with the official announcement. At the informal exchange rate in effect in July 2026, ranging from 690 to 695 pesos per dollar, the new minimum wage amounts to just 4.65 dollars per month.
Economist Javier Pérez Capdevila estimated that a person needs around 96,000 pesos per month to cover basic needs in Cuba, thirty times the new minimum wage, of which more than 70,000 pesos are allocated solely for food.
The measure is part of the 176 economic and social transformations approved by the National Assembly on June 19, 2026, introduced by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz as the most ambitious reform package of the regime in years.
The increase in the minimum wage is the first of those transformations to be legally enacted.
The previous minimum wage of 2,100 pesos had remained unchanged since January 2021, when the Tarea Ordenamiento came into effect.
The accumulated inflation since then has completely eroded that purchasing power, with the Cuban peso devaluing from 24 pesos per dollar in 2021 to over 690 in the current informal market.
In total, there are 14 resolutions published in the Official Gazette related to this reform. The Prime Minister, Marrero Cruz, himself acknowledged before the National Assembly that the new salary "is still insufficient, but it is a first step based on real possibilities."
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