MIAMI, United States. — The economist Elías Amor assured today that the economic indicators in Cuba they are not encouraging and that inflation continues to rise, a fact recognized by the island’s own authorities.
In an interview offered to CubaNetthe expert emphasized figures shared by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) corresponding to the month of January that account for an increase in inflation of 2.32% compared to December of last year.
He also mentioned the alarming interannual rate of change, which measures the behavior of inflation between January 2022 and 2023, and which has now been 42.08%, higher than the 39% registered in December.
According to the economist, there are temporary reasons that justify the inflationary crisis that the Caribbean country is going through, among which the unbridled increase in food prices stands out.
“Food prices, which have a very large influence on the CPI, have risen by 67.97% year-on-year, twenty points more than what average inflation has done. Eating in Cuba has become prohibitive. And the government does nothing to solve it, ”he explained.
The rise in prices in restaurants and hotels, as well as the rise in the monetary value of furniture, have also had an impact on the increase in inflation.
“This is going to get worse and worse because the country has entered a price spiral, something that happens a lot in Latin American nations, especially in the southern cone.
In this sense, the economist maintained that the Cuban regime only has one option to stop the inflationary crisis and the economic disaster on the island: change the system.
“Cubans do not deserve this suffering, and unfortunately they are headed for disaster, the leaders do not know what to do, or do not want to do what has to be done, as the Vietnamese did. In Vietnam we had to change the economic system, and that’s it”.
