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This August 23 begins the sale of foreign currency in the Cuban exchange market

portada-mercado-cambiario-768x425On July 21, the Minister of Economy and Planning announced in the National Assembly that a foreign exchange market would be implemented for the sale of foreign currency to the population with an exchange rate that is “economically based and where we can work with all currencies, including dollars.” cash”.

As part of this process, the purchase of foreign currency began on August 4, at a different exchange rate than the official one.

The Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil Fernández, and the Minister President of the Central Bank of Cuba, Marta Sabina Wilson González, appear this Monday at the Round Table to report on the implementation of the exchange market in Cuba.

Tomorrow the sale of foreign currency begins in the country
Gil Fernández recalled that this Tuesday marks 20 days since the beginning of the purchase of foreign currency, and reiterated that it is not a foreign exchange market, because it involves transactions in both directions (purchase and sale).

“It is appreciated that the results correspond to the proposed objectives, of having a level of purchase of the limited foreign currency that is entering the country, due to the fact that there is still not a large influx of tourists and due to the effects of the blockade on remittances” commented the minister.

However, he pointed out that the purchase “is incomparably superior compared to what was compared before the measure”, and stressed that advantages such as legality in transactions are recognized.

“This validates the step we took, because we have incorporated a level of foreign currency into the country’s financial system higher than the amounts that were being purchased prior to the purchase decision at an exchange rate of 1×120.

“It is an important step, part of a process, whose results so far are seen as favorable,” he said.

“We never expected that there would be a rush of people to sell their currencies to banks. We always said that it is a process that advances gradually, and that one of its incentives is the increase in the offer in Cuban pesos”, which is part of the strategy.

Gil Fernández acknowledged that there is still no supply level, and that the currency is accepted in the country to consume internally. “Euros can be banked and access to goods and services in freely convertible currency; therefore, not all currencies have to be redeemed.

“Not all the currency that the national financial system is buying is cash in cadecas and banks, since there is a set of transactions that are made electronically, among them the transfers from abroad that are credited to the accounts in CUP, and the transactions through ATMs.

He recalled that the initial objective of this first stage is to divert to the national financial system a level of foreign currency that was known to be operating in the informal market, resources that the country needs to advance in the gradual recovery of the economy.

One of the favorable aspects of the measure is the environment of legality that it generates. “Most people want to operate legally, including foreign visitors. Nobody goes to a country to commit an illegal action. The same thing happens with Cubans who obtain foreign currency through various means,” said the minister.

“This fight we are in for the recovery of the economy belongs to everyone. People know that when they make the exchange in a banking institution, they are depositing those resources based on the socioeconomic development of the country”.

He clarified that previously these operations could also be done legally, which at the 1×24 exchange rate, which did not generate incentives in the face of a higher informal exchange rate.

Starting tomorrow, he announced, the sale of foreign currency will begin, in order to continue advancing in the construction of the foreign exchange market.

“We will gradually take steps in that direction, which we will then be able to deepen, with the aim of achieving a market that allows the legal exchange of currency in the country, and moving forward to give the national currency greater purchasing power in the country. functioning of the economy”.

(Cubadebate Editorial Team)

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