Luis R. Luis Gauging Cuba’s external payments is challenging. There is scant statistical information about the balance of payments beyond merchandise trade and tourism. Data is unavailable on the capital account from the ONEI statistical office or the central bank. In this note I use information from international agencies and private estimates to get […]
Market Making in the Informal Currency Market in Cuba
The black or informal currency market in Cuba is decades old. It took off spectacularly after the monetary reform or ordenamiento monetario in early 2021. The black market arises out of controls on foreign exchange movements and official exchange rates set at levels below the price needed to balance the market (Luis 2023). There is […]
Determinants of Recent Foreign Investment in Cuba
DETERMINANTS OF RECENT FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN CUBA[1] Luis R. Luis The Cuban revolution has little love for foreign investment. The Cuban constitution after all leaves limited space for private capital. Nonetheless facing a shortage of capital, technology, and skills the Cuban government in recent years has strived to improve the legal and regulatory framework for […]
Inflation and Macro Policies in Cuba
After moderate price increases in the last two decades the 2300% devaluation of the peso in January 2021 and lax macro policies brought high inflation to Cuba which is cutting real salaries and wages. Hyperinflation followed the tarea ordenamiento or monetary reform aimed at erasing the overvaluation of the peso while unifying the CUP and […]
Handling the Dollar Crunch in Cuba
Handling the Dollar Crunch in Cuba Luis R. Luis Cuba suffers from a long-standing dollar liquidity crisis, a symptom of deep problems in the economy. Sadly the crisis does not appear to reach bottom. Indeed a mix of inadequate policies and adverse external events in the last three years has led to falling production and […]