HAVANA (AP) — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel says the governing council has approved economic measures including a rise in state salaries, long seen as a first step toward ending the country’s dual-currency system.
Cuba has a dual-currency system featuring one peso worth about four cents and another worth nearly a dollar. The two currencies are used to set extremely low prices for some goods and services considered basic rights and extremely high prices for others considered luxuries, creating distortions that cripple economic growth.
Ending the system is expected to create a chain reaction that includes higher inflation, making higher state salaries a necessary first step.
Diaz-Canel tweeted: “This is a salary increase. Next comes the reform.”
He said specifics would be announced on Cuba’s 8 p.m. national newscast.
