Alejandro Gil Fernández, head of the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP) of Cuba, ratified that after the new resolution of the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC), Cubans can deposit US dollars (USD) in their accounts associated with cards that operate in Freely Convertible Currency (MLC).
Through his Twitter account, the minister confirmed on Tuesday the banking of the dollar in the country announced the day before by the BCC and specified that the possibility of exchanging dollars in the exchange market, implemented since August 2022, was maintained.
“Now it is possible to bank (the dollar) and put it on MLC cards, which could be done with other currencies and not with the USD”, clarified Gil Fernández, which clarified doubts raised in the population, as to whether the new norm was possible or not to deposit dollars in the accounts associated with these cards.
The vice prime minister also affirmed that the bankarization of the USD “supports the gradual recovery of the economy” and maintained that with this measure the country is going “in the right direction”.
The bankarization of the USD supports the gradual recovery of the economy. It was already accepted in the exchange market since August 2022; Now you can bank and put on MLC cards, which could be done with other currencies and not with the USD. Are we heading in the right direction.@MEP_CUBA
– Alejandro Gil Fernández (@AlejandroGilF) April 11, 2023
In the same sense, the Cuban foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, who in the same social network supported the new resolution, spoke.
For the Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs, the new measure “will benefit national economic activity and the population” even though Washington’s sanctions on the island “hinder external financial flows from Cuba and prevent USD cash deposits abroad.”
“The banking of the USD is a measure motivated by current conditions in the country,” considered the head of Cuban diplomacy.
Bancarization of the USD is a measure motivated by current conditions in the country, which will benefit the national economic activity and the population, despite current US measures that hinder external financial flows of #Cuba and they prevent foreign deposits of USD in cash.
— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) April 11, 2023
In turn, the Doctor of Economic Sciences, José Luis Perelló, said to the Cuban News Agency (ACN) that the measure benefits recipients of remittances from the United States and international tourism.
Consulted by the outlet about the BCC’s resolution, the Tourism Development expert stressed that of the 752,231 foreign tourists who visited Cuba in the first quarter of this year, 41,140 were Americans and 74,780 Cuban-Americans, who would be bearers of USD.
“Cash operations and deposits of US dollars in bank accounts are back, an issue that should not have been prohibited once the country opened its borders after the pandemic,” Perelló said, quoted by the ACN.
In addition to noting that international tourism shows “signs of recovery”, the expert clarified that the fact of accepting USD again for deposits in MLC accounts does not mean that the free circulation of this currency in the country is authorized.
Last year, the Cuban government established a new foreign exchange market and began buying and then selling US dollars and other international currencies to the island’s citizens. However, it was not yet possible to deposit the USD in the banks or use them to recharge from Cuba the cards to buy in the MLC stores, opened by the government in 2019 and since then spread throughout the island.
In this context, and in the midst of a severe economic crisis and growing inflation, the dollar price on the informal market has risen above 180 Cuban pesos (CUP), while the official exchange rate stands at 120 CUP. .
