HAVANA TIMES – At the recently concluded 9th Congress of the National Association of Cuban Economists and Accountants (ANEC), Cuba’s Minister of Economy and Planning, Joaquin Alonso Vasquez, confirmed to delegates that the partial dollarization of the economy will not only continue but is the official strategy for the near future.
According to press reports, Alonso acknowledged the existence of three exchange rates and how this has led the dollar to become the main “mechanism of interconnection” within the Cuban economy.
“To correct these exchange distortions, it is necessary to link the rates through foreign currency. We have no choice but to move forward with partial dollarization, although the ultimate goal remains de-dollarization,” he stated.
Beyond the wordplay, the official statement confirms a policy that economists are quick to describe as a symptom of failure. “Dollarization is usually an alternative when there is a lack of credibility and functionality in the national currency,” warned Pavel Vidal, a Ph.D. in Economics, suggesting that the measure is an admission of the government’s inability to manage the economy.
Living in Dollars, Getting Paid in Pesos
For millions of Cubans, dollarization is a dead-end. Many families are forced to seek basic goods in a market where prices are set in foreign currency, while their salaries and pensions are paid in increasingly devalued Cuban pesos. At the same time, the prices of some public services ar
