The fall in currencies coincides with the increase in the crisis caused by Hurricane Melissa, which keeps a large part of the country without electricity or water.
MADRID, Spain.- The US dollar and the euro registered a significant drop this Friday in the Cuban informal market, interrupting the upward trend they had shown in recent weeks, according to data published by the independent observatory TheTouch.
According to the Representative Rate of the Informal Market (TRMI), prepared by the aforementioned medium based on the monitoring of thousands of currency purchase and sale announcements on social networks, the United States dollar (USD) is trading today at 470 Cuban pesos (CUP), ten pesos less than the previous day, when it remained at 480.
For its part, the euro (EUR) fell to 530 CUP, also with a drop of ten pesos compared to the previous day. The freely convertible currency (MLC), used in state stores, maintains its price at 200 CUP, without variations.
The collapse, for the third consecutive day, interrupts the sustained rise that had led the dollar to reach its highest levels in recent weeks. According to TheTouch, The TRMI “is obtained from the median of the currency purchase and sale announcements published on social networks and digital platforms,” which makes it a reference indicator to measure the pulse of the informal market.
The figures reflect the high volatility of the unofficial exchange market, in a context marked by the economic crisis, inflation and the deterioration of purchasing power. Despite the setback of this day, foreign currencies continue to be inaccessible for a large part of the Cuban population, whose state salaries do not reach the minimum levels to acquire them.
The informal market has established itself as the main currency exchange space on the island due to the strong restrictions of the state banking system, which limits the purchase and sale of foreign currencies and makes access to the official exchange rate difficult. The difference between this value – set at 120 CUP per dollar – and the informal rates shows the devaluation of the Cuban peso and the lack of confidence in the national currency.
The recent depreciation of the dollar occurs at a critical time for Cuba, hit by the ravages of Hurricane Melissa, which has left much of the territory without electricity or running water. Added to this are dengue outbreaks and a structural poverty crisis that has been going on for years. In this scenario, the decline in the dollar seems more like a temporary fluctuation than a sustained change: when the country manages to emerge from the current state of emergency—and returns to its usual scenario of economic instability—everything indicates that the currency will become more expensive again.
