US gives Cuba's new economic policies nod of approval

US gives Cuba's new economic policies nod of approval
Friday, November 12, 2010

The top US diplomat for Latin America said Wednesday that the United
States looked favourably on Cuba's new economic policy shifts though he
acknowledged "greater liberalisation" was needed.

"These reforms could point to an important shift in Cuban economic
policy," Arturo Valenzuela told reporters on a brief visit to Uruguay.

"These are preliminary steps of what would need to be a process of
greater liberalisation," but the United States sees them "positively,"
he stressed.

"We appreciate the fact that in Cuba important steps are being taken
such as the release of political prisoners, and we hope some more
prisoners can be freed, and that the Catholic church's cooperation is
useful," Valenzuela added, speaking in Spanish.

"At the same time, we see that these possible economic changes could
begin to respond to major economic challenges that Cuba faces on the
economic front," said Valenzuela, noting that communist Cuba was in an
acute economic crisis even as many South American countries were seeing
solid growth this year.

Cuban authorities unveiled a new five-year plan Tuesday that calls for
cuts in social spending while attracting private capital, in a bid to
jumpstart the moribund economy in the Americas' only one-party communist
regime.

The document will serve as the basis for debate at next April's Cuban
Communist Party Congress, the first since 1997.

Cuban President Raul Castro called Monday for the gathering to "update"
economic policy.

In October, the Havana government started a process of eliminating
500,000 state jobs by March, and said its ultimate aim is to slash more
than one million positions -- a 20 per cent reduction in Cuba's workforce.

The plans call for a dose of free-market policies including the end of
the "equal pay" regime, to be replaced by a new system in which worker
salaries are linked to performance.

The government, which controls some 90 per cent of the economy, would
start withdrawing by eliminating money-losing state-owned firms,
encouraging public-private partnerships and more small private
businesses and farms. This would be aided by credits that could be
offered to private business owners.

The new plan also calls for consideration of ending the two-tiered
currency system. Another measure in the five-year plan would eliminate
the longstanding food ration book for Cubans, a staple of everyday life
for more than five decades.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/US-gives-Cuba-s-new-economic-policies-nod-of-approval_8140802