Modernity has reached the wheelbarrow drivers who usually station themselves in the surroundings of the agricultural market on 17 and K, in Havana. By force, like almost everything. This Tuesday, among onions and bananas, one of the vendors displayed an unusual sign. “Transfer accepted,” it read, followed by the digits of a bank account.
The shortage of cash on the Island, especially bills, has led merchants like this one to look for a solution in banking transactions, although without much success. In the minutes in which this newspaper observed the scene, no one resorted to this form of payment, but it is expected that there will be a demand, if the forklift operator offers it.
At the end of May, the Minister of Economy, Alejandro Gil, admitted before Parliament that inflation is having among its consequences the lack of cash. The Government lacks the money to print more banknotes and the idea of creating new series with higher denominations that respond to the current high prices is unthinkable in this context.
At the end of May, the Minister of Economy, Alejandro Gil, admitted before Parliament that inflation is having among its consequences the lack of cash
The minister proposed before the deputies the banking of transactions, which he praised for being a fast, secure and control mechanism. However, there are not a few Cubans who do not even have an account – much less in national currency – due to mistrust in the system’s own solvency and the devaluation of the currency. Many also fear the tight control of their funds –sometimes derived from the informal economy– by authorities that are characterized precisely by the lack of transparency with which they operate.
Added to all this is the malfunctioning of technologies, from card payment terminals to the Transfermovil and EnZona systems, which were praised this Monday on national television, during a Round Table dedicated to talking about electronic commerce and sales. on-line.
The carretillero, in addition to the option of payment by transfer, had something else that is scarce in the eyes of Havanans in recent times: pumpkin. In any case, although the prices of all its products were, as usual, higher than those of state agriculture.
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