The rise in food prices continues to push inflation in Cuba and accounts for 70% of the increase in the consumer price index last November. With restaurants and hotels (14%) -which include breakfasts, snacks and meals outside the home- and transportation (5.5%), these three sections are the ones that had the greatest effect on the variation for that month, according to the data published by the National Office of Information and Statistics (Onei) this Friday.
November is the third largest increase in the cost of food in the last 16 months, with 6.2% compared to October, as reviewed by the economist Pedro Monreal on his Twitter account. The Cuban expert points out that, in the absence of knowing the data for December, the island is expected to end the year with inflation above 40%, “close to the estimate of 46% of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). high, with a ruinous effect on purchasing power,” he adds.
The growth of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) this month is 4.1%, almost the same as the previous one (4.2%), but the accumulated figure for the year is already at 34.05% and exceeds 40% if compared to November 2021
The growth of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) this month is 4.1%, almost the same as the previous one (4.2%), but the accumulated figure for the year is already at 34.05% and it exceeds 40% when compared to November 2021, a year that was even worse –despite the catastrophic data for the recently completed year– and officially ended with more than 70% year-on-year inflation. That year, analysts they calculated that the real increase, at prices of the informal market that moves the real economy of the Island was 740%.
As for food, which determines inflation according to the authorities themselves, prices rise 54.22% compared to October and 62.83% compared to November 2021, reflecting the unsustainable daily situation of millions of Cubans. Although pork does not stop rising and increases by more than 9% compared to the previous month, this time coffee leads the increases, with more than 11% rise. Black beans, another staple in the national diet, is second on the list with a 10.5% higher cost. Snacks and ham also grew, with more than 8%, but tomato fell, with -2.4%, a product whose prices were bumped into in the markets of several provinces, with results uneven.
In the hotels and restaurants section, the second whose prices increased the most, the increases in snacks (8.8%), prepared foods to take away (5.7%) and breakfast and soft drinks stand out, with more than one 5.5% both. In the case of transportation, another basic need for the daily life of Cubans and which in November experienced a rise of 1.04%, it is noticeable above all in sections such as the interurban taxi (6.2%), vehicle repairs (4.4%) and other interurban transport (4%). In the case of urban, the increase is not small either, with 3.5% more than in the month of October.
The rest of the areas analyzed to determine the behavior of the CPI also rose in November (none fell with respect to the previous month), although their weight in the general calculation is less. Goods and services (1.67%) and Furniture and Household Items (1.2%) are, in that order, those that exceeded the 1% increase. The rest falls below, including education, health, communications, recreation and housing services.
However, if the year-on-year variation is observed, rapid growth can be seen in the prices of these activities, as in the case of leisure (61.2% compared to November 2021) or alcoholic beverages and tobacco, with 26. 75% more than the previous year.
Cuba acquired 27,136.7 tons of meat from this bird in the neighboring country, compared to 15,980 in October and 25,100 in September
The numbers show that the announced strategies, underway since 2021, to improve agricultural production are no more than words without any effect. The markets are still short of supplies and prices are rising, without taking into account what is requested for the products in the parallel market.
In this context, the Cuban government has continued to have to resort to its northern enemy to acquire the little chicken that the population is fighting over. In November there was a spectacular increase in quantity and price of the product from the US to Cuba, at a cost of 32.06 million dollars. The increase was 56% in value and 70% in tons compared to the previous month.
Cuba acquired 27,136.7 tons of meat from this bird in the neighboring country, compared to 15,980 in October and 25,100 in September. However, by quantity, the months of February 2022 and December 2021 continue to hold the record, when they exceeded 30,000 tons. However, with the current rise in prices, the costs are much higher. A kilo of chicken fell very slightly in November compared to October, which had a historical record with 1.29 dollars, and was sold for 1.18 dollars, although the total cost for Cuba was higher due to an increase in the amount imported.
“Even without data from December, 2022 is already the second best year (after 2021) in terms of US chicken meat exports to Cuba, both in value and in tons. It is one of the best case studies regarding the ineffectiveness of Cuba’s agricultural policy,” says Monreal.
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