HAVANA, Jan 11 (NNN-ACN) — Higher tariff prices for services like fuels and electricity in Cuba were announced by government officials as part of a package of measures aimed at relaunching the local economy in 2024.
During the prime-time TV show “The Round Table” the ministers of Mines and Energy, Vicente la O Levy, and of Finances and Prices, Vladimir Regueiro gave details and explained the goals of the measures previously announced by the Cuban government in December.
These new actions, said Vladimir Regueiro, must be conceived as an integral action aimed at offering better services for the people in tune with the current scenario and the availability of resources.
The increase in the electricity tariffs targets a sector of the population which are described a high-power consumers – over 500 Kilowatt/hour—so they aim at encouraging power saving, since the electricity service keeps being subsidized in Cuba despite current limitations of financial and material resources and efforts to guarantee the stability of the national power system.
Meanwhile the new retail fuel prices were agreed upon research on international prices which revealed how cheap fuel is in Cuba, so authorities decided to sell fuel in hard currency to foreign visitors and business people, to use that money to benefit the local economy.
Retail fuel prices for the local population will increase in tune with the US Dollar-Cuban Peso exchange rate – 1 US dollar to 120 Pesos—using part of the collected money to back sectors like Education and Health.
Another service whose tariffs increase is the expenditure of liquified gas, usually used for cooking. This service will no longer be subsidized, though preferential treatment will be given to persons who are considered vulnerable to the new costs.
The Finance and Price Minister reiterated the integral nature of the new measures in terms of their aims: collecting funds to support the financing of activities and encouraging energy saving. He said that special support will be provided to any person whose purchasing power is affected by the new these new measures. — NNN-ACN
