HAVANA, Dec 3 (NNN-ACN) — Next year has to be better, of hard and intelligent work, crushing bureaucracy, obstacles, immobility, and waiting and, of course, continuing the fight against corruption and illegalities based on the measures adopted, said Miguel Diaz-Canel, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Cuban communist party and president of the country.
According to the website of the Presidency, during the recent meeting of the Council of Ministers, Diaz-Canel recalled how Cuba has returned to normality in the midst of the tightening of the US blockade, the smear campaigns and the pandemic.
He insisted on the importance of 2023 being a year in which innovation is present and food production is prioritized with efficiency, applying agro-ecology and science as much as possible.
The President called attention to the need to achieve the stability of the National Electric System (SEN), for which financing has been sought to allow repairs and maintenance and thus be able to advance in the proposed investments.
Cuban leader stressed that by 2023 the budget deficit must be reduced and the application of the tax system must be improved in order to mitigate social inequalities and make progress in the legislative exercise that the country has proposed.
During the meeting, Manuel Marrero Cruz, Cuban PM, called attention to the next ordinary period of sessions of the National Assembly of the People, in which the proposal of the Plan of the Economy and Budget of the State for 2023 will be presented to the deputies.
The Cuban premier called to confront crime, corruption, illegalities and social indisciplines with justice and firmness, as well as asked to support the bodies of the Ministry of Interior, especially the National Revolutionary Police (PNR).
For his part, Alejandro Gil Fernandez, minister of economy and planning, said that the first goal is to get as close as possible to the conditions that the economy had in 2019, when the pandemic did not exist and when the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States had not been tightened.
The plan for 2023 prioritizes making progress in the macroeconomic stabilization of the country, recovering SEN capacities, speeding up the introduction of renewable energy sources, reducing inequalities, consolidating the process of decentralization of competences to the territories and achieving the integral transformation of the socialist state-owned enterprise, he said.
Referring to investments, the minister explained that the growth projection has been designed according to the National Development Plan, mainly in tourism, housing, food production, energy, industry and constructions.
The key is to continue working hard in all the income potentialities that the country has to aspire to a higher growth and we have the possibilities to do it, he indicated.
During the working day, other essential aspects for the country were also discussed, such as the progress of the National Economic and Social Development Plan until 2030.
Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz, minister of foreign trade and foreign investment, informed about the main economic effects on the country caused by irregularities in foreign trade operations.
In his speech, he referred to logistical problems that hinder the efficiency of export and import operations, such as the case of payments to shipping companies in foreign currency for container delays, a matter that continues to cause losses to the economy.
At the same meeting, Eduardo Rodriguez Davila, minister of transport, explained that as regards the Operation Port Transport Internal Economy, the total amount of cargo transported in the country reached 29,166,800 tons.
He referred that among the main deficiencies of this period are the irregularities in the planning and arrival of ships, which generates problems with the insurance for their unloading; the insufficient planning and organization of transportations, the instability of the industry’s productions and the availability of fuels and technical means of logistics.
The members of the Council of Ministers approved the Policy for the improvement of the Cuban Sports System, taking into account the current political, economic and social context of the country.
Finally, the meeting approved the Agreement of the Council of Ministers to include new posts in which the indeterminate-term employment contract for discontinuous or cyclical work is applied. — NNN-ACN
