The Cuban Government will once again “update” its program “to correct distortions and re-boost economy“, as revealed this Wednesday during a meeting of the Council of State.
This was reported in his speech by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, according to whom this update will take into account “the contributions of the popular consultation” carried out in the last months of last year, as well as the analyzes and agreements on the subject derived from the most recent Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the session of Parliament held in December.
The renewal of the government plan will also take into account “the opinions collected in a meeting with the parliamentarians of the Economic Affairs Commission”, according to what is reviewed by the site Cubadebate.
Marrero explained that for this process “the proposals of the deputies were analyzed, permanent monitoring of the study process of the Government Program was carried out and new proposals were presented to advance the identified objectives and priorities.”
The head of Government did not offer an exact date for the launch of the update, but included its publication among the priorities for the first quarter of the year.
Other priorities mentioned were, according to the report, “the consolidation of the implementation of the approved measures and the identification, by entities and territories, of potential to strengthen the Economy Plan and increase budgetary income.”
The official review does not provide more elements or explanations about the changes contemplated in the economic program or the possible measures that could derive from them. This, at a time when the country is experiencing a worsening of its economic crisis, which could worsen even further as a result of recent events in Venezuela and pressure from Washington.
The program so far
Last October, the Cuban Government I had already reported an update of its economic program and then announced a process of “study and analysis” of it for its “comprehensive understanding.”
Marrero then explained that changes had been made such as modifying and specifying the scope of some general objectives and that both its specific objectives and its implementation schedule had also been “updated.”
Shortly after made public finally his controversial economic plan, which took place two years after the announcement of its implementation.
With nearly 90 pages, the program So far it contains 10 general objectives related to topics such as macroeconomic stabilization, national production, external income, the recovery of the electro-energy system and the reduction of crimes and corruption.
In addition, it has another hundred specific objectives, and also a large number of actions (327), as well as goals and indicators (257).
The Government makes public its program to “correct distortions and re-boost the economy”
In general, it is a broad and dense document in whose preparation—according to the brief note with which the text was presented at that time—“universities, academic centers, as well as political and government organizations participated.”
Although its stated objective is to “reboost the economy,” this program has so far not been able to reverse the critical economic scenario that the island has been going through for several years.
Last Julythe Government itself recognized its “deepest dissatisfaction” with the results achieved up to that point by its economic plan, particularly “in the most sensitive issues” for the population, although it assured that it has obtained some progress.
Although it has been repeatedly defended by the authorities, the program has been criticized by economists and the population itself, both for the lack of clarity about its specific actions and for its poor results.
