The Council of Ministers of Cuba analyzed the country”s economic performance in the first semester of 2018 and considered that it was acceptable, despite the tensions that characterize the economy.
According to a report published in the official newspaper Granma, the meeting, headed by President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, took place early this week.
The members of the Cuban cabinet also discussed the liquidation of the 2017 State Budget and the overseeing actions taken for its execution, as well as exports, foreign credits for investments and foreign investment.
The first deputy minister for Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil Fernandez, reported on the economy’s performance in the first six months of the year, and described it as acceptable despite the tensions that characterize the economy, including insufficient availability of resources.
Other adverse factors presented by the deputy minister, according to Granma, were ‘the weather’s damage on the sugarcane harvest, non-compliance with revenues by concept of exports, and the impact of heavy rains, in addition to the stepping up of the U.S.-imposed blockade of Cuba and its extraterritorial effects.’
Despite those obstacles, the official mentioned ‘moderate increases in the sectors of construction and commerce, as well as favorable compliances in the main agricultural productions and the levels of activity of the food industry are mostly according to plan’.
Tourism also reported a positive performance after having exceeded two million foreign visitors thanks to the rapid recovery from the damage caused by Hurricane Irma, Gil Fernandez added.
Regarding the liquidation of the State Budget, Finance and Price Minister Lina Pedraza Rodríguez submitted the 2017 report, which notes that the budget’s execution had a fiscal deficit lower than the one approved by the People’s Power National Assembly, as a result of the combined effect of overfulfillment in revenues and the non-execution of some expenditures.
In terms of expenditures, the minister noted that 29 percent of the State Budget goes to public health and social assistance, 22 percent to education and 16 percent to social security.
In that regard, it was learned that in 2017, more than 21,000 people throughout the country benefited from subsidies to do construction works in their homes, and it was considered that the provincial and municipal administration councils have to speed up the delivery of those funds.
The report on the liquidation of the budget will be submitted to the consideration of the People’s Power National Assembly in its next session.
President Diaz-Canel noted that control over the State Budget mus increase and these cases must be analyzed regularly at the meetings of the Council of Ministers; a strict tax discipline must be kept, and there must be appropriate contractual relations between the state sector and self-employed workers.
He noted that people should know deeply how much the country invests in terms of education, health and social assistance, so that they can value the influence of the execution of the Budget on their daily lives.
Diaz-Canel insisted on the need to further boost foreign investment due to what it represents for the development of the country. ‘We have to be creative and run risks, without affecting our sovereignty,’ he noted.
Foreign Trade and Investments Minister Rodrigo Malmierca informed that investments with foreign capital increased, but they still have a very low weight in relation to the country’s total investments.
He noted that objective matters like the economic blockade and the currency and exchange duality are still subjective and organizational factors that limit both exports and the use of credits and the attraction of foreign investments, issues that are closely intertwined and must be dealt with comprehensively.
The achievements made in these three activities will determine the country’s economic results, it was emphasized at the meeting of the Council of Ministers, according to the report published in Granma.
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