The measures, which will come into force on December 17, are part of the state mechanism to “better order and control the allocation of foreign currency.”
MADRID, Spain.-The Government of Cuba will implement a new system of management, control and allocation of currency, accompanied by the entry into force of Decree-Law 113, which regulates transactions in foreign currency within the country. The authorities present these measures as part of the program to “correct distortions and re-boost the economy,” according to what was published the official press.
The new legal structure redefines who can operate in foreign currency, under what conditions and with what supervision, at a time when the national economy continues to be marked by a shortage of foreign currency, sustained inflation and structural failures that the State cannot reverse.
A centralized model to allocate every dollar
According to official information, the system seeks to “better order and control the allocation of currency,” reinforcing centralized planning. The Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP) will be in charge of authorizing any operation in foreign currency, prioritizing activities linked to exports, import substitution and other sectors that the Government considers strategic.
The decree also introduces the Foreign Exchange Access Capacity Allocation (ACAD), a mechanism through which the State will decide which entities—even those that do not generate foreign currency—will be able to acquire resources in foreign currency and under what criteria.
Although the authorities assure that these provisions are part of a temporary design, the scope of the measures and the level of control proposed suggest a profound reorganization of the dollarized economy that already operates in practice.
Authorizations in dollars for private actors, but under restrictive rules
The regulatory package published in the Official Gazette allows certain private companies, cooperatives and self-employed workers to earn in foreign currency, always with the approval of the MEP. Those who receive authorization must open foreign currency accounts supervised by the Central Bank of Cuba and submit to a permanent supervision system.
Access to foreign currency will not be free: the State decides who can operate it, in what volume and for what destination. The regulations establish strict obligations on the use of foreign currency income and limit the conversion to Cuban pesos, which in practice prevents these operations from having a significant effect on the domestic market or on the purchasing power of the population.
As of December 17, 2025, both state and private entities authorized to operate in foreign currency must deliver 20% of the income they receive in foreign currency to the Central Bank of Cuba, compulsorily and at the official exchange rate.
A dollarization that advances while the peso loses centrality
Although the authorities insist that Cuba “does not abandon the objective of the peso being the center of the financial system,” the country’s economic reality points in the opposite direction. The expansion of operations in dollars—although presented as an “orderly” mechanism—formalizes the growing dependence on a currency that the State itself discouraged during the Ordering Task.
The coexistence of multiple exchange rates, the existence of stores in MLC, the collapse of the Cuban peso in informal markets and now this new authorization system consolidate a scenario in which the national currency loses basic functions and further limits the population’s access to essential goods and services.
Extreme centralization and growing inequalities
The Government maintains that the measures seek to boost the economy, but the design applied further concentrates control over currency flows and perpetuates a segmented economy in which access to dollars depends on administrative permits, institutional connections and non-transparent criteria.
Meanwhile, the Cuban population—without direct access to foreign currency and facing a peso in free fall—continues to be excluded from a system that deepens inequality between those who can participate in dollarized circuits and those who depend exclusively on a weakened currency.
Although the official discourse insists on correcting “distortions,” the implementation of this model confirms the inability of the State to sustain the monetary architecture created just three years ago. The practical recognition of dollarization and the imposition of new mechanisms to administer it show that the Cuban economy remains trapped in a cycle of improvised adjustments, rigid controls and measures that do not resolve the origin of the crisis.
