The euro in Cuba reached a record price this year in the country’s informal market. (Infobae)
In the last session, the euro was quoted at 25.75 Cuban pesos at the close at the official exchange rate, which meant a change of 2.89% if compared with the data from the previous day, when it ended with 26.52 Cuban pesos at the exchange rate. official.
In the last seven days, the euro registers a decrease of 2.22%; Despite this, for a year it has still maintained a rise of 3.91%.
In relation to previous days, with this value he interrupted the positive streak that he had in the two previous days. The volatility figure was lower than that accumulated in the last year, so that it is having a more stable behavior than expected in recent times.
The Cuban peso is the legal currency in Cuba and is used by the majority of the population, it is divided into 100 units called centavos.
As of January 1, 2021, the convertible Cuban peso ceased to exist as legal tender, since it was the most accepted in the payment of obligations and although it still has legal value, it is not received in the payment of products and services.
In 2002, the exchange rate was 21 Cuban pesos for each convertible peso, but later it was devalued until it reached 26 Cuban pesos per convertible peso. As for the dollar, it is equivalent to 25 Cuban pesos and one Cuban convertible peso.
It was not until April 2005 when the government agreed to the devaluation of the Cuban peso with respect to the convertible by passing it to 25 Cuban pesos per convertible peso and the latter remained at parity of 1:1 with respect to the dollar plus a 10 percent tax. This means that for every dollar exchanged, 12% of its value is lost.
This was the case until January 1, 2021, when the “Zero Day” of monetary unification was agreed, although for many the disappearance of the convertible peso was seen as a devaluation, for others it was only a measure to catch up with the 24 Cuban pesos for each dollar.
Consequently, the demand for foreign currency also pushed the black exchange market in which one dollar was sold for every 100 convertible Cuban pesos.
Currently there are coins of 1, 2, 5 and 20 cents and 1, 3 and 5 pesos; while in bills there are 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 pesos.
In the economic sphere, the Minister of the Economy, Alejandro Gil Fernández, acknowledged that in 2022 the projected levels were not reached due to the impossibility of reaching the expected income from exports.
Similarly, there was a decrease in tourism; as well as an increase in inflation of up to 40%, which brought repercussions in a rise in the prices of the basket of goods and services. As the minister clarified, inflation is an effect of the lack of availability of foreign currency.
On the other hand, according to the latest forecasts made by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Cepal), after progress was made in 2022 after the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a setback is expected by 2023. or a depletion of the rebound effect in recovery.
For this year, only 1.3% growth is expected for the region, as a result of restrictive monetary policies, greater limitations on fiscal spending, lower levels of consumption and investment, little capacity to contain inflation, and more.
For the specific case of Cuba, ECLAC expects a growth of 1.8 percent while local authorities anticipate that they can achieve 3 percent.