Cuba's Council of Ministers meeting focused on economic stabilization

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 1 (ACN) In the midst of a complex scenario, in which achieving macroeconomic stability in Cuba is essential, the most recent meeting of the Council of Ministers included in its agenda the evaluation of multiple issues that have a direct impact on the achievement of that purpose.

Referring to them, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, described them as "very important", taking into account their expression not only in the macroeconomy, but also in our society.

In this regard, he referred, among other issues, to how the economic complexities that the nation is going through have repercussions, for example, in the delays that have manifested during the last months in the delivery of the regulated family basket; the instability in the National Electro-energy System; the inadequate relationship that is sometimes established between the state and non-state sectors, as well as the excessive increase in prices, which is not always a product of supply and demand, and is a totally speculative matter.

In his remarks during the meeting, which was led by Political Bureau member and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, the Head of State insisted on the need to find answers to these and other problems, many of them directly related to the bureaucracy and inefficient control that we are carrying out from our institutional system, which is limiting creative work and leads to unwanted distortions in our society.

He also reflected on the importance of becoming aware everywhere of the extent and scope of the negative trends and, above all, of the way in which we have to implement the Government Projections designed to deal with them.

He recalled that this is in addition to the work priorities defined by the Party in terms of strengthening unity, perfecting the ideological work and ensuring the implementation of the economic measures proposed by the Government to eliminate distortions and negative trends.

These are priorities, he said, that "are interrelated and go towards the same objectives to achieve the macroeconomic stabilization that we need, which is the most important thing at this time".

In addition to this, he added, what we have to do in the medium and long term to achieve sustainability in all that we have proposed and to eliminate the causes, at least our own, the internal ones, not the ones that are strongly caused by the blockade.

Referring to the priority that must be given to reduce the budget deficit, President Diaz-Canel emphasized the importance of "having more control over expenditures" and even canceling a group of them that cannot be executed today.

In this connection, he also referred to "the excessive payments being made by the state sector to the non-state or private sector" and insisted on giving more participation to state companies when contracting services, provided they are capable of doing so efficiently.

Later on, he referred to the steps taken to strengthen the bankarization process, as well as the role to be played at the territorial level to counteract tax evasion, "so that not a single penny of the State budget escapes".

In view of the need to continue seeking answers to the dissatisfactions that exist in many places, the President reflected on the "very good experiences of work collectives that, with their leadership, do things differently and move forward, and what we need to do, I repeat once again, is to turn those good experiences into rules".

Those thousands of examples that are all over the country, he said, "are the ones that must be followed, are the ones that must be promoted; those are the examples that must be multiplied and each one has them in their own spheres. Each one, then, should promote their multiplication, with the conviction that we are all here to save the Revolution and to save Socialism".

Particularly on the status of the implementation of the measures approved in the Government Projections to correct distortions and re-drive the economy during 2024, an issue evaluated monthly by the Council of Ministers and which on this occasion included the presentation of a new group of measures, the President insisted on working consciously, with commitment and with a lot of control.

These measures, explained Mildrey Granadillo de la Torre, First Deputy Minister of Economy and Planning, seek, in essence, to correct macroeconomic imbalances; increase foreign currency inflows to the country through different channels and concepts; encourage domestic production, with emphasis on food production; and organize the operation of non-state management.

According to his explanation, the main actions include adjusting the 2024 Plan and Budget to the "war economy" conditions; reducing Budget items with the objective of reducing the 2024 fiscal deficit, starting from non-executions; defining requirements in the budgeted activity for the use of the approved Budget and centralizing the power of approval; to allocate monthly financial resources in correspondence with the actual revenues of the month; to calculate the fiscal impact of imports of non-state management forms; to grant tariff benefits, including exemptions, for the import of raw materials and inputs for production, as well as to finalize the tax system for e-commerce.

Among other measures, a single, inclusive and equal pricing policy will be established for all subjects of the economy, including both the state and non-state sectors; regulations will be implemented to limit the profit in the purchase of products and payments for services and inputs made by the state sector to the non-state sector; It will be necessary to promote linkages and not to give away productive capacities; the process of preparing the Plan for the Economy and the State Budget for 2025 will begin, based on the approval of the Global Model and the Government Directives conceived for this process; and progress will be made in the implementation of an action plan to solve the existing problems in the process of bankarization.

These and other decisions approved, said the First Deputy Minister of Economy and Planning, have "an integral character and are based on the existing complex situation of the economy".

The actions have been focused, she said, on "advancing in the macroeconomic stabilization of the country, a complex process that requires coordination and harmonization among the global organizations of the economy".

"In this sense, perfecting the planning mechanisms, the relations between the actors of the economy, the attraction of financing, eliminating tax evasion, and increasing production, are necessary actions in this process", he pointed out.

The Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, considered that this is an important step, which includes measures associated with a higher stage in the implementation of projections on macroeconomic issues, with impacts on sensitive issues for the population.

He also mentioned that a report is currently being prepared which includes the main results of the actions that have been implemented since December of last year to date, as well as the dissatisfactions that exist in some aspects. This document will be evaluated by several party and government agencies to be finally submitted to the deputies of the National Assembly of People's Power in the next session.