The cap on maximum profits for the private sector on sales to state-owned companies comes into force on Monday
14ymedio, Madrid, Monday, July 1, 2024 — Today, just as a cap on private-sector profits from sales to state-owned companies takes effect, the official communist party newspaper Granma opened with an article devoted to the most recent Council of Ministers meeting. The gathering was called to discuss what were describes as “issues of vital importance,” specifically ways to for stabilize the country’s “war-time” economy. Nothing in the article, however, indicated what measures might have been adopted that would put an end to the country’s inflationary crisis, nor is the meeting even being billed as such.
“Among other measures, a single, inclusive pricing policy will be established that will be applied equally to all areas of the economy, including both state and non-state sectors,” is as specific as the article gets. However, one need only take a quick trip back in time to see the same phrase being used on at least two other occasions. One was in 2020, when it was announced that efforts were being made to create a single, inclusive pricing policy that would apply, in equal measure, to all areas of the economy and that would serve as the core principal for generating products and services.
After Cuba abandoned its dual currency system and adopted a single currency in 2021, the same idea was trotted out again during a similar meeting. At that time, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero stated, “An update of Cuba’s pricing policy, which was intended to be a single, inclusive policy, equally applicable to all areas of the economy, was one of the ongoing priorities of the Ministry of Finance and Prices.”
Four years later, the announcement remains the same even though the economy is now even further underwater
Four years later, the announcement remains the same even though the economy is now even further underwater. President Miguel Díaz-Canel pointed to delayed deliveries of essential rationed goods, the instability of the National Electrical System and excessive inflation as being among the worst repercussions of the crisis. In his opinion, however, these are “not always a the result of supply and demand but something of a totally speculative nature.” In any case, his claim cannot be proven since supply and demand — to say nothing of economic productivity — are not features of the country’s economy, which Cuban authorities have themselves acknowledged and for which the National Office of Statistics and Information has provided ample documented evidence.
The prime minister, who attributed much of the problem to bureaucracy and insuffic