Cuba sees hints of recovery, announces 'audacious' measures to tame inflation

15/5/2022 6:26

        Cuba's ailing economy has begun to recover in some sectors after two years of pandemic-induced contraction but soaring global prices for food and fuel require "audacious" measures to tame inflation, economy minister Alejandro Gil told Cuban lawmakers on Saturday.
        
        Gil said Cuba saw a 38% increase in exports in the first quarter, boosted by the rising price of nickel, a top mineral export. He said inflation had also slowed despite upward pressure on the price of imports.
        
        But the price Cuba paid for imported goods jumped by nearly $700 million in the first quarter, outpacing the country's modest gains in exports, a predicament Gil attributed to "imported inflation" driven by fast-rising prices for such products as fuel, corn for feeding livestock and wheat.
        
        U.S. sanctions and soaring food and fuel prices, in part due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have put Cuba's tepid recovery at risk and threaten to worsen shortages already forcing citizens to line up for food, medicine and other basic goods.