Cuba relaxes restrictions on US dollars
Cuba is to allow the purchase of flat-screen TVs and domestic appliances in foreign currency to try to prop up its economy.
Cuba is to allow the purchase of flat-screen TVs and domestic appliances in US dollars and other currencies to try to prop up its ailing economy.
Faced with a financial crisis, the government plans to allow residents to pay for dozens of imported items in foreign money to try to collect hard currency.
It is an attempt to compete with a booming informal market for the goods, thought to be worth about $US2bn a year, in which so-called mules travel outside the island to buy TVs, airconditioners and even washing machines and return to sell them.
While possession of foreign currency is allowed in Cuba, purchases could only previously be made with pesos. For decades, dollars have not been considered legal tender in shops.
Vice-President Salvador Valdes Mesa has announced that 77 state-owned shops will begin selling high-value items in exchange for foreign banknotes at the end of the month. A fall in aid from Venezuela and new US sanctions have made life difficult for Cuba’s 11 million people.
The Times
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