14ymedio, Havana, 9 January 2024 — Cubans have seen the new announcements on Tuesday linked to the large package of economic adjustments with which the Government seeks to “correct distortions.” The measures detailed on State TV’s Round Table program include an increase in interprovincial transport, as of March 1, which exceeds, in several cases, 180% of the current rate.
The Minister of Transport, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, and the Deputy Minister of Finance and Prices, Lourdes Rodríguez Ruiz, presented the changes in prices for passenger transport that fundamentally affect buses and trains that travel between provinces, in addition to maritime transport to the Isle of Youth and air connections.
Rodríguez Dávila clarified that all the rates are updated, although “the modification is not in most cases transferred to the prices paid by the population,” but “some prices have had to be transferred to the final customer.” The reason for the increase is that it is not possible to financially maintain the current rates “because of the amount that the budget has to contribute to be able to cover that difference.”
The cost of fuel and the repair and replacements costs of the deteriorated buses require having a capital that, “with rates at a loss,” cannot be covered, the official acknowledged
The cost of fuel and the repair and replacement costs of the deteriorated buses requires capital that, “with rates at a loss,” cannot be covered, the official acknowledged. “The budget has to contribute more than 2 billion pesos a year to cover that difference between the price and the rate.”
The head of the branch stressed that the official will is to maintain the prices of urban, suburban, intercity and