HAVANA, (Reuters) – Communist-run Cuba has given all small businesses the authority to hire labor and will loosen other regulations governing private enterprise, the government said in a statement on Monday.
The measure was the latest indication that President Raul Castro’s government has decided to loosen its grip on economic sectors that include retail services, construction and transportation in favor of private business.
Last year, the government allowed some types of family businesses and skilled trades to hire workers.
The government said that “the Council of Ministers agreed to extend to all non-state activities authorization to contract workers and continue the process of making more flexible regulations on self employment.”
It provided no further details in the statement read on state-run television.
