Cuba will unify its currency, the people welcome it

The “dual currency” system has caused many difficulties for people who receive their salaries in pesos.

On October 22, the Cuban government announced that the country will end its 19-year-old "dual currency" system by replacing the peso and the convertible peso (CUC) with a unified currency.

This is part of the Cuban government's reform plan to improve the economic situation of this Caribbean island nation. Many Cubans have welcomed the Cuban government's decision to end the "dual currency" system in transactions in this country.

Cuban peso (photo: davidkiyokawa)

“The economic problems of the dual currency system have created huge obstacles in our daily lives. The government’s unification of the national currency is a positive move, very encouraging. Cuba needs such reforms.”

The Council of Ministers has approved a schedule for implementing “measures for the unification of the currency exchange” aimed at valuing the new unified currency and making it the main instrument for payments and savings. The conversion process will first be applied to companies operating in Cuba and will then be extended to private companies. The unification of the currency will contribute to improving the efficiency of economic reforms and at the same time encourage export enterprises and domestic producers of consumer goods to step up their activities, the Communist Party of Cuba newspaper Granma reported.

Since 1994, Cuba has been operating a dual currency system, the peso and the convertible peso. The convertible peso is valued at the same level as the US dollar and is used in all foreign trade transactions, while the peso is used to pay salaries and services domestically at a rate of 1 convertible peso to 24 pesos.

The trouble is that many essential items in state stores are sold in convertible pesos, causing great hardship for those whose salaries are only in pesos./.

According to VOV - DT