HAVANA (Xinhua/Reuters) –
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has denounced the U.S. embargo’s damage to the island’s economy.
Addressing legislators at Cuba’s National Assembly of People’s Power in Havana, he said that the U.S. embargo is an external factor that harms the economic development of the Caribbean nation.
“This huge external factor gravitates against the country’s development,” he said, adding that capitalism has increased inequality and exclusion worldwide.
Diaz-Canel said that the U.S. economic war on Cuba, the global economic crisis, the slow pace of post-pandemic recovery and war conflicts negatively affect the economic recovery strategy of the island.
“The measures adopted, without meeting the expected results, reveal a slight recovery trend,” he said.
He said the Cuban economy is projected to implement structural transformation and macroeconomic stabilization programs over the next three years, which will benefit development funding in the mid-term.
Diaz-Canel said that foreign investment programs in energy, agriculture, and sugar industry will be implemented in the year’s second half.
Meanwhile, the country’s Economy Minister Alejandro Gil said on Saturday Cuba’s economic growth is less than 2% this year and remains 8 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels, while production in sectors such as agriculture, mining and manufacturing was further behind,.
Speaking before the country’s parliament, Gil said the primary sector, which includes agriculture, mining and other basic production, was down 34.9% compared with 2019, while manufacturing was off 20%. A third sector that includes services such as tourism, communications and education was down 4.9%.
Cuba, heavily dependent on food, fuel and other imports, largely blames U.S. sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic for more than a 50% decline in its export earnings, which are needed to purchase imports, while admitting that market-oriented reforms have moved too slowly in the Communist-run country.
Gil said export earnings so far this year were $1.3 billion, 35.7% of what had been expected, while imports were $4.4 billion, also well below the Cuban government’s forecast.