Cuban MPs discuss current economic problems in parliamentary commissions

 

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 18 (ACN) The report on the behavior of the Cuban economy in the first half of the year, which will be submitted for approval by the National Assembly of People's Power in the first regular session of its 10th Legislature, gave rise today to the first assessments of its deputies at the level of commissions.

In the Economic Affairs Committee, Leticia Morales Gonzalez, first deputy minister of economy and planning (MEP), said that during the period, the expected exports were not achieved, nor the foreign currency income with which to acquire goods and finance expenses, nor imports, in addition to the failure to comply with the food production plans, especially in agriculture and livestock.

The gradual recovery of the economy has not yet reached the necessary pace, hence the need to move forward with greater speed in the measures related to the acquisition of foreign currency, the increase of the national food production, the control of inflation, the national electric system and the organization of the economic actors, among others, the official added.

In the presence of Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, member of the Political Bureau and general secretary of the Cuban Workers Federation; and Joel Queipo, member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Party and head of the Economic-Productive Department, she updated on the contributions and deficiencies in the business system and new forms of management, inflation, the progress of investments, attention to people and communities in vulnerable situations, along with other indicators.

The government is not standing still in these areas and there are concrete measures which are being implemented, said Morales Gonzalez, but for the second half of the year the main effort should focus on the country's economic and social strategy to ensure the fulfillment of the year's exports.

The first deputy minister of the MEP also pointed out as priorities for the rest of 2023 the attention to individuals, families and communities in vulnerable situations; to work on the balance of food production and demand at the municipal level seeking self-sustainability; the import of raw materials and inputs to produce goods; to organize the relations between the state and non-state sectors and to advance in the macroeconomic stabilization program with direct impact on the control of inflation.

Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, deputy prime minister and head of foreign trade and investment, recalled that the U.S. blockade continues being the main obstacle to the development of the country and to the improvement of the quality of life of the population, but in the midst of this and other objective realities we cannot continue doing the same thing in the face of the great challenges, which are many.