He Dollar increased by two pesos on Friday informal market Cuba, up to 276 Cuban Pesos (CUP), approaching the 280 barrierWhile the euro rose by two units and is now trading at 282. According to the media, both are record figures the touch At its representative rate in the exchange market.
On the other hand, the Freely Convertible Currency (MLC), which was trading at 250 pesos at the beginning of the week, has remained stable at the same amount so far.
This is not good news for inflation in Cuba, which closed 2023 with a year-on-year increase of 34.34% in the formal market, according to official data. The state-run Office of National Statistics and Information (ONEI) reported on Thursday that this was mainly due to increases in prices in restaurants, transport and food.
The consumer price index (CPI) also increased by 3.39% in December compared to the previous month, ONI said. By category, restaurants and hotels (47.18%) increased year-on-year, followed by transportation (37.52%) and food and non-alcohol beverages (36.36%), which are traditionally the most inflationary. Is.
This week, measuring the rate of depreciation of the world’s currencies, academic Steve Hanke placed From January 2023 to CUP with a decline of 37.09%. This placed the Cuban peso at 12th position. The least valuable currency on the planet, a Johns Hopkins University economist indicated.
The above incident occurred when the regime announced the application of a great economic package which essentially involves raising rates for services such as transport or electricity. However, the measure that creates the greatest uncertainty is the increase in the price of gasoline and diesel. and dollarization of its sales.
Although this rule will not go into effect until next February 1, its impact is already being felt on the wallets of Cubans. official site cubedebatewhich summarized the opinions of its readers regarding everyday issues, published complaints on Friday on the issue of fuel sales at gas stations.
“It’s not worth it: the ticket application has been abolished and now buying fuel is a disaster. There are ‘organized mafias’ and if you don’t pay extra money, you don’t move forward in the queue,” the publication noted.
Other than this, The note questioned why “all the boat drivers in Havana have raised the price of a machine trip by 50 or 100 pesos.”Just because of the announcement of new measures, despite the fact that it was said that fuel would be sold to registered boaters.”
“They’re headed straight for 300,” one forum member warned in the publication. the touch on Facebook, while another warned: “Let the gas rise.”
On December 31, CUP was exchanged at 265 per dollar. I mean, It has fallen by 11 pesos in 19 days of January. On the same date in January 2023, each unit of the US currency was priced at 160 pesos, each euro was priced at 165, and the MLC was priced at 157, which has been registering historical records one after another since then.
The above Cuban economic debacle is merely a symptom of skyrocketing prices of consumer goods and a steady decline in the purchasing power of the island’s residents.