Editing Economy of Cuba (section)

=== Post-Fidel Castro reforms (2011-present)===
{{quote box|Either we change course or we sink.|—President [[Raúl Castro]], December 2010<ref>{{cite news| last = Voss| first = Michael| url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1311962.stm | title = A last hurrah for Cuba's communist rulers | work = BBC News| access-date= 14 July 2012 | date= 16 April 2011}}</ref>}}
In 2011, "[t]he new economic reforms were introduced, effectively creating a new economic system", which the [[Brookings Institution]] dubbed the "New Cuban Economy".<ref>{{cite web|url= http://semanarioaqui.com/index.php/lucha-de-nuestros-pueblos-2/357-cuba-adopta-nuevos-lineamientos-economicos-para-aumentar-la-produccion|title= Cuba adopta nuevos lineamientos económicos para aumentar la producción|website= Semanarioaqui.com|access-date= 11 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2012/12/cuba%20economy%20feinberg/cuba%20economy%20feinberg%209.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730061603/http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2012/12/cuba%20economy%20feinberg/cuba%20economy%20feinberg%209.pdf|title=New Cuban Economy|archive-date=30 July 2013}}</ref> Since then, over 400,000 Cubans have signed up to become entrepreneurs. {{As of | 2012}} the government listed 181 official jobs no longer under their control—such as taxi driver, construction worker and shopkeeper. Workers must purchase licenses to work for some roles, such as a mule driver, palm-tree trimmer, or well digger. Despite these openings, Cuba maintains nationalized companies for the distribution of all essential amenities (water, power, etc.) and other essential services to ensure a healthy population (education, health care).

Around 2000, half the country's sugar mills closed. Before reforms, imports were double exports, doctors earned £15 per month, and families supplemented incomes with extra jobs. After reforms, more than 150,000 farmers could lease land from the government for surplus crop production. Before the reforms, the only real estate transactions involved homeowners swapping properties; reforms legalized the buying and selling of real estate and created a real estate boom in the country. In 2012 a Havana fast-food burger/pizza restaurant, La Pachanga, started in the owner's home; {{as of | 2012 | lc = on}} it served 1,000 meals on a Saturday at £3 each. Tourists can now ride factory steam locomotives through closed sugar mills.<ref name=BBCSimonReeve2012>{{cite web|title= BBC Simon Reeve 2012 documentary|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVRlhgPF2U4|access-date= 23 September 2013|via= YouTube}}</ref>

In 2008, Raúl Castro's administration hinted that the purchase of computers, DVD players, and microwaves would become legal;{{update inline|date= March 2016}} however, monthly wages remain less than 20 U.S. dollars.<ref name="Weissert">{{cite web | url = https://www.waxahachietx.com/article/20080330/Business/303309801 | title = Cell phones, microwaves: New access to gizmos could deflect calls for deeper change in Cuba | last = Weissert | first = Will | date = 30 March 2008 | website = Waxahachie Daily Light | agency = Associated Press | access-date = 6 May 2019 | archive-date = 6 May 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190506195239/https://www.waxahachietx.com/article/20080330/Business/303309801 }}</ref> Mobile phones, which had been restricted to Cubans working for foreign companies and government officials, were legalized in 2008.<ref name="Weissert" />

In 2010 Fidel Castro, in agreement with Raúl Castro's reformist sentiment, admitted that the Cuban model based on the old Soviet centralized planning model was no longer sustainable. The brothers encouraged the development of a cooperative variant of socialism - where the state plays a less active role in the economy - and the formation of worker-owned co-operatives and self-employment enterprises.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/sep/10/fidel-castro-cuba-communist |location= London |work= The Guardian |title= Cuba: from communist to co-operative? |author1= Stephen Wilkinson |date= 10 September 2010}}</ref>

To remedy Cuba's economic structural distortions and inefficiencies, the Sixth Congress approved an expansion of the internal market and access to global markets on 18 April 2011. A comprehensive list of changes is:<ref name="Domínguez2012">{{cite book|first= Jorge I. |last= Domínguez|title= Cuban Economic and Social Development: Policy Reforms and Challenges in the 21st Century|url= {{google books |plainurl= y |id= liaWuAAACAAJ}}|year= 2012|publisher= Harvard University Press|isbn= 978-0-674-06243-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last= Perez Villanueva|first= Omar Evernly|author2= Pavel Vidal Alejandro|title=Cuban Perspectives on Cuban Socialism|journal= The Journal of the Research on Socialism and Democracy |year= 2010|volume= 24|issue= 1}}</ref>
* expenditure adjustments (education, healthcare, sports, culture)  
* change in the structure of employment; reducing inflated payrolls and increasing work in the non-state sector  
* legalizing 201 different personal business licenses 
* fallow state land in [[usufruct]] leased to residents
* incentives for non-state employment, as a re-launch of self-employment
* proposals for the formation of non-agricultural cooperatives 
* legalization of the sale and private ownership of homes and cars  
* greater autonomy for state firms  
* search for food self-sufficiency, the gradual elimination of universal rationing and change to targeting the poorest population 
* possibility to rent state-run enterprises (including state restaurants) to self-employed persons
* separation of state and business functions  
* tax-policy update  
* easier travel for Cubans 
* strategies for external debt restructuring

On 20 December 2011, a new credit policy allowed Cuban banks to finance entrepreneurs and individuals wishing to make major purchases to make home improvements in addition to farmers. "Cuban banks have long provided loans to farm cooperatives, they have offered credit to new recipients of farmland in usufruct since 2008, and in 2011 they began making loans to individuals for business and other purposes".<ref>{{cite journal|last= Philip|first= Peters|title= A Viewers Guide to Cuba's Economic Reforms|journal= Lexington Institute|date= 23 May 2012|page= 21|url= http://www.lexingtoninstitute.org/cuba}}</ref>

The system of rationed food distribution in Cuba was known as the [[Rationing in Cuba|''Libreta de Abastecimiento'']] ("Supplies booklet"). {{As of | 2012}} ration books at bodegas still procured rice, oil, sugar, and matches above the government average wage of £15 monthly.<ref name="BBC2012SimonReeve">{{cite web|title= BBC 2012 Simon Reeve documentary| via=YouTube |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVRlhgPF2U4|access-date= 23 September 2013}}</ref>

Raúl Castro signed Law 313 in September 2013 to set up a [[special economic zone]], the first in the country, in the port city of [[Mariel, Cuba|Mariel]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/10/cuba-open-tax-free-special-economic-zone-2013102019632154300.html|title= Cuba to open tax free Special Economic Zone|author= Chris Arsenault|publisher= Al Jazeera|access-date= 11 June 2015}}</ref> The zone is exempt from normal Cuban economic legislation.<ref name=":022" />{{Rp|page=159}}

On 22 October 2013, the government eventually announced its intention to end the dual-currency system.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-24627620|title= Cuba to scrap two-currency system in latest reform|work= BBC News|date= 22 October 2013|access-date= 24 October 2013}}</ref> The [[Cuban convertible peso|convertible peso]] (CUC) was no longer issued from 1 January 2021 and ceased circulation on 30 December 2021.

The achievements of the radical social policy of socialist Cuba, which enabled social advancement for the formerly underprivileged classes, were curbed by the economic crisis and the low wages of recent decades. The socialist leadership is reluctant to tackle this problem because it touches a core aspect of its revolutionary legitimacy. As a result, Cuba's National Bureau of Statistics (ONE) publishes little data on the growing socio-economic divide. A nationwide scientific survey shows that social inequalities have become increasingly visible in everyday life and that the Afro-Cuban population is structurally disadvantaged. The report notes that while 58 percent of white Cubans have incomes of less than $3,000 a year, that proportion reaches 95 percent among Afro-Cubans.<ref>{{cite journal|last= Hansing|first= Katrin|author2= Hoffmann Bert|title= Cuba's New Social Structure: Assessing the Re-Stratification of Cuban Society 60 Years after Revolution|journal= GIGA Working Paper Series|year= 2019|volume= 315|url= https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/system/files/publications/wp315_hansing-hoffmann.pdf|access-date= 29 April 2019|archive-date= 28 May 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190528171323/https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/system/files/publications/wp315_hansing-hoffmann.pdf}}</ref> Afro-Cubans, moreover, receive a very limited portion of family remittances from the Cuban-American community in South Florida, which is mostly white. Remittances from family members from abroad serve often as starting capital for the emerging private sector. The most lucrative branches of business, such as restaurants and lodgings, are run by white people in particular.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/es/2019/04/26/cuba-racismo-afrocubanos/?emc=eta1-es|title= Cuba hoy: la pugna entre el racismo y la inclusión|work=The New York Times |date= 26 April 2019|access-date= 29 April 2019}}</ref>

In February 2019, Cuban voters approved a new constitution granting the right to private property and greater access to free markets while also maintaining Cuba's status as a socialist state.<ref name=freerereconomy /><ref name=somefreerereconomy /> In June 2019, the 16th ExpoCaribe trade fair took place in Santiago.<ref>http://www.periodico26.cu/index.php/en/feature/we-recomend/item/16392-expo-caribe-attracts-exhibitors-from-22-countries{{Dead link|date= January 2020 |bot= InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted= yes}}</ref> Since 2014, the Cuban economy has seen a dramatic uptick in foreign investment.<ref name=foreigninvestors /> In November 2019, Cuba's state newspaper, ''[[Granma (newspaper)|Granma]]'', published an article acknowledging that despite the deterioration in relations between the U.S. and Cuban governments, the Cuban government continued to make efforts to attract foreign investment in 2018.<ref name=foreigninvest /> In December 2018, the official Cuban News Agency reported that 525 foreign direct investment projects were reported in Cuba, a dramatic increase from the 246 projects reported in 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.cubanews.acn.cu/cuba/8845-foreign-direct-investment-projects-in-cuba-increase-to-525 |title= Foreign Direct Investment projects in Cuba increase to 525 - ACN |date= 18 December 2018 |access-date= 28 December 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191228014609/http://www.cubanews.acn.cu/cuba/8845-foreign-direct-investment-projects-in-cuba-increase-to-525 |archive-date= 28 December 2019 }}</ref>

In February 2021, the Cuban Cabinet authorized private initiatives in more than 1,800 occupations.<ref>{{cite news
 |last1            = Canto
 |first1           = Lorena
 |title            = Cuba opens broad swath of its economy to private enterprise
 |url              = https://www.laprensalatina.com/cuba-opens-broad-swath-of-its-economy-to-private-enterprise/
 |department       = Business & Economy
 |work             = La Prensa Latina
 |publisher        = Mendelson and Associates, LLC
 |location         = Memphis, Tennessee
 |publication-date = 6 February 2021
 |access-date      = 7 February 2021
 |quote            = More than a decade after authorizing private initiative in 127 categories, the Cabinet approved the scrapping of that list in favor of liberalizing all but 124 of the upwards of 2,000 occupations recognized in the National Classification of Economic Activity, official Communist Party daily Granma reported Saturday.
 |archive-date     = 7 February 2021
 |archive-url      = https://web.archive.org/web/20210207001840/https://www.laprensalatina.com/cuba-opens-broad-swath-of-its-economy-to-private-enterprise/
 |url-status       = dead
}}</ref>

The Cuban economy was negatively affected by the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], as well as by additional sanctions from the United States imposed by the Trump administration. In 2020, the country's economy declined by 11%, the country's worst decline in nearly 30 years. Cubans have faced shortages of basic goods as a result.<ref name=":2" />

====International debt negotiations====
Raúl Castro's government began a concerted effort to restructure and to ask for forgiveness of loans and debts with creditor countries, many in the billions of dollars and long in arrears from loans and debts incurred under Fidel Castro in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref>{{cite web |last1= Caruso-Cabrera |first1= Michelle |title= Cuba faces its next financial challenge — more than $1 billion in unpaid commercial debt |date= 9 February 2018 |url= https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/09/cuba-faces-its-next-financial-challenge-1-billion-in-commercial-debt.html |publisher= CNBC |access-date= 9 February 2020}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite web |last1= Mosendz |first1= Polly |title= Putin Writes Off $32 Billion of Cuba's Debts to Russia |url= https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/07/russia-writes-off-32-billion-in-cuban-debt/374284/ |website= The Atlantic |date= 11 July 2014 |access-date= 11 July 2014}}</ref>

In 2011, China forgave $6&nbsp;billion in debt owed to it by Cuba.<ref>{{cite web |last1= Rapoza |first1= Kenneth |title= China Has Forgiven Nearly $10 Billion In Debt. Cuba Accounts For Over Half. |url= https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2019/05/29/china-has-forgiven-nearly-10-billion-in-debt-cuba-accounts-for-over-half/ |website= Forbes |access-date= 19 May 2019}}</ref>

In 2013, Mexico's Finance Minister [[Luis Videgaray]] announced a loan issued by Mexico's foreign trade development bank [[Bancomext]] to Cuba more than 15 years prior was worth $487&nbsp;million. The governments agreed to "waive" 70% of it, approximately $340.9&nbsp;million. Cuba would repay the remaining $146.1&nbsp;million over ten years.<ref>{{cite news |title= Mexico says it will waive most of $487 mln debt owed by Cuba |url= https://www.reuters.com/article/mexico-cuba/mexico-says-it-will-waive-most-of-487-mln-debt-owed-by-cuba-idUSL1N0IM15320131101 |work= Reuters |date= November 2013 |access-date= 1 November 2013}}</ref>

In 2014, before making a diplomatic visit to Cuba, Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] forgave over 90% of the debt owed to Russia by Cuba. The forgiveness totaled $32&nbsp;billion. A remaining $3.2&nbsp;billion would be paid over ten years.<ref name=":1" />

In 2015, Cuba entered into negotiations over its $11.1&nbsp;billion debt to 14 members of the [[Paris Club]]. In December 2015, the parties announced an agreement - Paris Club nations agreed to forgive $8.5&nbsp;billion of the $11.1&nbsp;billion total debt, mostly by waiving interest, service charges, and penalties accrued over the more than two decades of non-payment. The 14 countries party to the agreement were: [[Austria]], Australia, [[Belgium]], Canada, [[Denmark]], [[Finland]], France, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, [[Switzerland]], the [[Netherlands]], and the United Kingdom. The payment for the remaining $2.6&nbsp;billion would be made over 18 years, with annual payments due by 31 October of every year. The payments would phase in gradually, increasing from an initial 1.6 percent of the total owed until the last payment of 8.9 percent in 2033. Interest would be forgiven from 2015 to 2020, and just 1.5 percent of the total debt still be due thereafter. The agreement contained a penalty clause: should Cuba again not make payments on schedule (by 31 October of any year), it would be charged 9 percent interest until payment and late interest on the portion in arrears. The regime viewed the agreement favorably to resolve the long-standing issues and build business confidence, increasing [[direct foreign investment]] and as a preliminary step to gaining access to credit lines in Europe.<ref>{{cite news |last1= Frank |first1= Marc |last2= Leigh |first2= Thomas |title= Exclusive - Cuba's debt deal: Easy terms, but severe penalties if late again |url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-debt-exclusive-idUSKBN0TY23C20151215 |work= Reuters |date= 15 December 2015 |access-date= 15 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Cuba seals 'historic' debt pact with Paris Club |url= https://news.yahoo.com/cuba-seals-historic-debt-pact-paris-club-222619519.html |website= Yahoo News |access-date= 14 December 2015}}</ref>

In 2018, during a diplomatic visit to Cuba, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam [[Nguyễn Phú Trọng]] wrote off Cuba's official debt to Vietnam. The forgiveness totaled $143.7&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web |last1= Caufield |first1= John |title= Cuba could learn from Vietnam when it comes to the economy |url= https://thehill.com/opinion/international/383682-cuba-could-learn-from-vietnam-when-it-comes-to-the-economy |website= The Hill |date= 16 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Sáu mươi năm quan hệ Việt Nam - Cuba: Đoàn kết, chiến thắng |url= http://tapchimattran.vn/dai-doan-ket/sau-muoi-nam-quan-he-viet-nam-cuba-doan-ket-chien-thang-37689.html |website= tapchimattran.vn |date= 3 December 2020 |language= vi}}</ref>

In 2019, Cuba once again defaulted on its Paris Club debt. Of the estimated payment due in 2019 of $80&nbsp;million, Cuba made only a partial payment that left $30&nbsp;million owed for that year. Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas wrote a letter to [[Odile Renaud-Basso]], president of the Paris Club, noting that Cuba was aware that "circumstances dictated that we were not able to honour our commitments with certain creditor countries as agreed in the multilateral Minute signed by the parties in December 2015". He maintained that they had "the intention of settling" the payments in arrears by 31 May 2020.<ref>{{cite news |last1= Frank |first1= Marc |title= Exclusive: Cuba fails to make payment in key debt accord, sources say |url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-debt-exclusive/exclusive-cuba-fails-to-make-payment-in-key-debt-accord-sources-say-idUSKBN2052C6 |work= Reuters |date= 11 February 2020 |access-date= 11 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Cuba defaults on Paris Club debt: says it will meet its commitments |url= https://www.caribbean-council.org/cuba-defaults-on-paris-club-debt-says-it-will-meet-its-commitments/ |website= The Caribbean Council |date= 17 February 2020 |access-date= 23 May 2020}}</ref>

In May 2020, with payments still not made, Deputy PM Cabrisas sent a letter to the fourteen Paris Club countries in the agreement requesting "a moratorium (of payments) for 2019, 2020 and 2021 and a return to paying in 2022".<ref>{{cite web |last1= Abiven |first1= Katell |title= Cuba seeks delay in debt repayment to 2022: diplomats |url= https://au.news.yahoo.com/cuba-seeks-delay-debt-repayment-2022-diplomats-185725712--spt.html |agency= Agence France-Presse |access-date= 20 May 2020 |archive-date= 4 June 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200604012242/https://au.news.yahoo.com/cuba-seeks-delay-debt-repayment-2022-diplomats-185725712--spt.html }}</ref> As of Aug 2023, payments had still not resumed with a new payment calendar still being negotiated.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Live |first1=Havana |title=Paris Club adjusts payment schedule to collect multi-million dollar debt to Cuba |url=https://havana-live.com/club-de-paris-ajusta-calendario-de-pago-para-cobrar-multimillonaria-deuda-a-cuba/ |website=havana-live.com |access-date=8 December 2023 |date=31 August 2023 |archive-date=8 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208054043/https://havana-live.com/club-de-paris-ajusta-calendario-de-pago-para-cobrar-multimillonaria-deuda-a-cuba/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Cuba's Umpteenth Negotiation With the Paris Club for Non-Payments, Meanwhile Luxury Hotels Multiply |url=https://translatingcuba.com/cubas-umpteenth-negotiation-with-the-paris-club-for-non-payments-meanwhile-luxury-hotels-multiply/ |website=Translating Cuba |access-date=8 December 2023 |date=4 September 2023}}</ref>