Cuba passes market-friendly market reforms amid U.S. pressure

Investing.com -- Cuba's Communist Party central committee approved 176 market-liberalization measures on Wednesday covering 23 economic sectors as the country attempts to address its struggling economy amid US sanctions.

The National Assembly was scheduled to ratify the measures on Thursday, according to state-run newspaper Granma. President Miguel Díaz-Canel announced the reforms last week, which affect sectors including energy, agriculture and foreign trade.

Among the approved measures are:

• Establishing uniform legal rules for state-run and private enterprises as well as foreign and domestic investors. The private sector will be allowed to participate in additional areas of the economy.
• The government will eliminate most price controls, which officials said failed to control inflation and created economic distortions. A debt renegotiation process will begin to exchange national debt for domestic assets.
• Foreign companies will be authorized to invest directly in the private sector under rules covering property ownership, dispute resolution and profit distribution. The reforms create a framework to promote investment, technology transfers and donations from Cubans living abroad.
• Farmers will gain access to foreign currency and the right to import raw materials without state intermediaries. State-run businesses and municipalities will receive more autonomy, while state and government institutions will merge to eliminate duplicate functions.
• The government will remove taxes and tariffs on solar energy technology, allowing foreign companies to supply panels, batteries and inverters directly to the market. The fiscal deficit will be reduced through increased taxes and spending cuts.

President Díaz-Canel said Wednesday the reforms have the support of Raúl Castro, the 95-year-old revolutionary leader. "Reality imposes urgent and necessary changes on us," Díaz-Canel said. "And when the life of the people becomes so hard, the first duty of the Communist Party and the revolutionary government is not to better explain the crisis, but to change what needs to be changed to get out of it."

The president attributed Cuba's economic problems to the US embargo and sanctions.

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