Havana/The Government of Cuba met with its main creditors from the Paris Club to take stock of the agreement signed a year ago to restructure debt payments.
According to a note in the official pressthe delegation – headed by Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva – met in Paris with representatives of more than a dozen countries, who recognized the “efforts” of the Island to comply with its agreements regarding the repayment of the debts incurred.
The Cuban side exposed the “complex” economic-financial situation that the Island is going through, which it blamed on six decades of US sanctions for “a policy that has intensified to unprecedented levels since Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025.”
The Paris Club agreed with Cuba, the note states, on the importance of maintaining “the constructive ties achieved” last year.
The Cuban authorities and the Paris Club agreed in January 2025 to modify the terms of the 2021 and 2015 agreements due to Cuba’s inability to satisfy its commitments.
The Cuban authorities and the Paris Club agreed in January 2025 to modify the terms of the 2021 and 2015 agreements due to Cuba’s inability to satisfy its commitments.
The group of creditors indicated in a statement that the new pact offered Havana “more advantageous conditions to face its economic and financial difficulties in the coming years,” as well as the possibility of “preserving” financial relations between the parties.
In 2015, Cuba signed a historic agreement with the Paris Club, which forgiven $8.5 billion of a total debt of $11 billion, with Havana’s commitment to pay the remaining amount in installments until 2023.
However, based on partial non-compliance in 2019 and 2020, the Island declared itself unable to pay the corresponding payments and requested a two-year moratorium for a total of about 200 million in late payments. The Paris Club only agreed to delay the deadlines by one year, although with the possibility of renegotiating.
In mid-2021, the parties agreed to an additional deadline for the commitments made in 2015, but the Cuban economy has only worsened by leaps and bounds.
The Paris Club includes Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Furthermore, the Island has high debts with other States, as well as countless private companies from different countries.
