Cuban Economy Sets Priorities for Second Half of 2024

Increasing the local food output to meet the people’s demands and securing the export-derived income program are top priorities for the second half of 2024 in Cuba.

Addressing the Cuban Parliament’s Economic Commission, in the presence of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, Economy Minister Joaquin Alonso gave details about the performance of Cuban economy earlier this year and in 2023, when the country’s GDP dropped 1.9 percent, he announced.

Alonso told the lawmakers that internal inefficiencies prevailed in the country amidst a complex domestic and international scenario; agriculture and livestock production plans were not met, affected the availability of products like meat, eggs, milk, beans and others.

Export-derived income plans also fell short in sectors like nickel, mining products, sugar, honey, shrimp and rum, said the Minister. He also noted that the shortage of resources and fuels, the fall of prices at the world market for some products along subjective problems impacted the exports of the telecommunications and tourist sectors, even after tourism saw slight recovery with the arrival here of over 1.3 visitors.

Priority imports included fuels and resources for the pharmaceutical industry, livestock and agricultural productions, and for the power generation system.

Investment programs have yielded results in the energy sector, food production, hydraulic plans, but not so in the housing program.

The debate on the Minister’s report along the issue of giving the municipalities prerogatives to set up agribusinesses, several deputies agreed that the local state socialist enterprises are far from playing their major role in the production of goods and services backing the country’s economic growth.

Parliament president Esteban Lazo and top unionist Ulises Guilarte stressed the must to consider the productive potential in each territory so that all local businesses and companies should contribute to the basic food basket.

The suggestion comes after some 340 state companies have seen loses in their performance with 67 of them in the agriculture sector, 45 in the sugar area and 11 in the food industry, while over 100 of such companies are under municipal management.

The Parliament Commissions are currently working ahead of the Third Session of the National Assembly of People’s Power 10th Legislature taking place July 17-20.