Economy

GDP to increase in 2011

September 5, 2010

The Economist Intelligence Unit forecasts for Cuba, “fiscal retrenchment will limit growth to only 2% in 2010. In 2011 policy relaxation will allow growth to pick up to 3.7%.” Key indicators 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Real GDP growth (%) 1.4 2.0 3.7 4.2 4.4 4.2 Consumer price inflation (av; %) -0.5 0.7 5.4 [...]

Read the full article →

Threat or Paranoia?

September 3, 2010

The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a London-based independent think tank engaged in defense and security research, asks in its analysis of Cuba, how much of a threat does the Communist regime really pose to the world’s only superpower: Raúl’s position as head of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias – FAR), who were [...]

Read the full article →

Open criticism permitted in Party paper

June 1, 2010

Cuba’s government has allowed Granma (Cuban Communist Party’s newspaper) to publish letters to the editor (here and here) critical of an economy devastated by decades of corruption and centralized power. (Image: Granma, Carta a la dirección, 7 May 2010.)

Read the full article →

Fear of hard times ahead

November 28, 2009

Cubans are bracing for hard times in 2010 as President Raul Castro slashes imports and cuts government spending to get Cuba out of crisis — and they are growing impatient with the slow pace of economic reform. Hurricanes, the global recession, U.S. sanctions and the inability of the communist-run island’s command economy to maneuver have [...]

Read the full article →

Asphyxiating economic situation

November 20, 2009

The government of Army General Raul Castro suffers from an asphyxiating lack of liquidity which has caused a fall of 36% in Cuba’s foreign trade in the first nine months of 2009. And the solutions to the economic crisis are a period of wartime and deprivation: not paying debt nor to those of other countries or [...]

Read the full article →

Shake-up: top ministers replaced (Updated)

March 2, 2009

Via AP: Cuba abruptly replaced some of its most powerful and visible officials on Monday, including Vice President Carlos Lage and Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque. The surprise shakeup, involving about 10 top officials, was announced at the end of the midday newscast by Cuba’s supreme governing body, the Council of State. Among others replaced [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries