Cuban ministers shed light on economic crisis

Senior Cuban officials have for several weeks provided an increasingly dire picture of a deepening economic crisis in a series of televised prime time appearances, revealing the extent of the downturn in unprecedented detail.

Minister after minister delivered the bad news as the import-dependent Communist-run country weathers a fourth year of crisis, scraping by with a minimum of foreign exchange as output plummets.

The top officials said that food production and the supply of pharmaceuticals and transportation are down at least 50% since 2018, and continued to fall this year in large part due to chronic fuel shortages and power outages.

Cuba imports most of the food and fuel it consumes, but revenue plunged after the pandemic, hampered by stiff US sanctions and floundering tourism, once a mainstay of the Caribbean island economy.

“The ministers provided new information revealing just how serious the crisis is and that growth this year is very doubtful,” said Cuban economist Omar Everleny.

Production of staples pork, rice and beans are down more than 80% this year and eggs 50%, said agriculture minister Ydael Jesus Perez.

“It has only been possible to acquire 40% of the fuel, 4% of the fertiliser and 20% of the animal feed required,” the minister said.

Hospitals, short on basic supplies such as sutures, cotton and gauze, have done 30% fewer surgical procedures compared with 2019, according to data shared on state-run TV during a presentation by first deputy health minister Tania Margarita Cruz. Nearly 68% of basic pharmaceuticals are not available or in short supply.

Public transportation, vital in a country where few have vehicles, was hobbled by fuel shortages and difficulties in getting spare parts.

If before the collapse of former benefactor the Soviet Union “there were 2,500 buses operating in Havana ... today there are only 300 compared with 600 four years ago,” transportation minister Eduardo Rodríguez Davila said.

The ministers revealed domestic freight traffic continues to decline and is half of what it was in 2019. Industry is operating at 35% of capacity.

The government has acknowledged its state-run economy needs reform.

Local authorities, increasingly under pressure as the problems and tension ratchet up, have launched programmes to contain hunger, build homes and improve the flow of transportation, but remain hamstrung by a lack of funds, they have said.

Reuters