HAVANA, (Reuters) – Cuba took the first step towards scrapping its two-tier currency yesterday in a move which could boost local workers’ income and remove a major hurdle for importers and exporters.
The government said it had approved a plan to gradually eliminate the dual monetary system which has been in place for the last two decades, part of reforms aimed at improving the Soviet-style economy’s performance.
“(Unification) is imperative to guarantee the reestablishment of the Cuban peso’s value and its role as money, that is as a unit of accounting, means of payment and savings,” a government communique carried by official media said.
Cuba’s convertible peso (CUC) is pegged to the U.S. dollar, while the local peso (CUP) is valued at a fraction of the greenback’s value, angering the population which is paid in the latter, and complicating accounting, the evaluation of performance, and trade for state companies.
