Suspension of U.S. dollar cash deposits comes into force as of today

HAVANA, Cuba, Jun 21 (ACN) As of Monday, natural and legal persons will not be able to make cash deposits of U.S. dollars (USD) in Cuban banks, a temporary measure adopted by the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) as a result of the U.S. blockade.

In a press release, the BCC assured that such an indispensable decision is caused by the blockade, which for more than a year has prevented the Cuban banking system from depositing in foreign banks the US dollar bills collected in the country.

The provision is only applicable to the U.S. dollar, not to other freely convertible currencies accepted in Cuba, and everyone’s USD bank account will remain valid and untouched, the note pointed out.

Marta Wilson González, Minister-President of the BCC, remarked that the possession of USD or any other freely convertible currency will not be penalized and that the suspension will depend on the restrictions that limit the relations between Cuban and foreign banks.

This step is the result of the aggressiveness of the economic siege imposed by Washington and its negative effects on our financial system, for example, with the inclusion of Fincimex, AIS and the International Financial Bank in the list of restricted Cuban companies.

Things got worse when the U.S. banned remittances to Cuba, a measure kept in place throughout the pandemic and which has given rise to the circulation of a large amount of US dollars brought to the Island through informal channels.

Until yesterday, the branches of the Banco de Crédito y Comercio, Banco Popular de Ahorro and Banco Metropolitano continued accepting deposits in U.S. dollars in individual accounts.

This process had been extended for 10 days after the measure was announced by the top authorities of the Central Bank of Cuba.