Cuban workers receive advanced payment

Havana, Dec 24.- Cuban workers are receiving an advanced payment, starting on Wednesday, to afford higher prices predicted as of January 1, as part of the monetary overhaul in the country.

 

According to Marino Murillo, head of the Commission for the Implementation of the Guidelines of the Communist Party of Cuba, the 1,000-peso advanced payment will allow workers to acquire goods and services at higher prices.

Murillo clarified on his Twitter account on Wednesday that workers will receive in January the other part of their wages, which will go up to over 2,100 pesos.

Since December 17, Cuban pensioners have also been receiving their increased pensions, which range from 1,528 to 1,733 pesos or more, depending on their current incomes.

Those payments are a priority for the protection of people with lower incomes in light of the new prices, Murillo assured, reiterating that ‘in Cuba, shock therapies will not be applied.’

With the elimination of the monetary and exchange duality, starting in January, there will be a devaluation of the Cuban peso (CUP) for the business sector that will impact on the price hikes, something that will be supported by the raise in the people’s incomes.

That element is part of the Monetary Overhaul Task, a comprehensive reform that aims to eliminate distortions in the national economy, including the inefficiency of some enterprises. That way, as of January 1, the Cuban Convertible Peso or CUC will stop circulating in the country and the CUP will remain as the official currency to pay for all transactions in Cuba, with an exchange rate of 24 pesos to the US dollar. (Prensa Latina)