In recent weeks, ordinary Cubans have begun to form lines outside banks and ATMs in the Cuban capital in search of money to pay for the products or services they use daily.[1]
Omar Everleny Pérez, a Cuban economist and professor at several foreign universities, listed at least four reasons for the lack of cash in ATMs: a growing fiscal deficit, the nonexistence of bills with a denomination greater than 1,000 Cuban pesos (equivalent to three dollars in the parallel market), high inflation and the non-return of money to the banks.
Perez also says “various private economic actors such as small or medium-sized businessmen who receive that money for transactions, but do not deliver it to the bank out of distrust that they will not be able to withdraw them later or to convert them into dollars as quickly as possible before they depreciate.”
Cuba’s Minister of Economy and Planning, Joaquín Alonso Vázquez, said that for the first quarter of 2024, income from exports decreased, imports also decreased, and different key economic activities are not fulfilled, such as the main agricultural production, sugar and other derivatives, as well as electricity generation.[2]
Another Cuban Minister, Vladimir Regueiro Ale (Finance and Prices), said that the budget deficit stood at 22,822 million pesos. The figure is lower than planned, but around 20% of “this decrease was due to the non-execution of a group of Budget items that have a great impact, especially on social policies.“
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[1] The cash shortage deepens the agony of Cubans in crisis, Diario de Cuba (April 29, 2024).
[2] ‘Unfavorable outlook’: the government falls short in the face of the chaos of the economy in Cuba, Diario de Cuba (April 29, 2024).