CubaPLUS Magazine

As part of the struggle against the Covid-19 pandemic, the Cuban Government applies a new set of measures in the economic field that prioritizes national food production and regulates the distribution of essential products for the population, among other aspects.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil Fernández, reported on national television that in the current context, agricultural production will be prioritized with the available resources (fuel, fertilizers and foreign exchange).

We have to find in our agriculture the fundamental source of food for the people, he said and indicated that this does not mean that imports will not be made, "but we must keep looking for national solutions, because we do not know what food our foreign suppliers are going to stop producing", he indicated.

He specifically referred to the effects on tourism, a fundamental sector for the economy, not only for its income but for the productive chains that it generates. The evolution of the epidemiological situation of Covid-19, he stressed, does not allow estimating the recovery period, so Cuba must be able to recover, at the same time that the country is facing a worsening of the US economic blockade through pressures on fuel vessels and impediments to access to financing.

Gil Fernández also explained that the country's investment plan will be adjusted and resources for consumption will be prioritized. In this regard, he specified that some strategic investments in execution, such as those related to renewable energy sources and food for the people, will be maintained and prioritized.

In addition to agricultural production, given the current situation, special emphasis is given to the food processing industry, the production of hygiene products and medicines, construction materials, to the activities that support Public Health services and to those investments that guarantee better conditions to enter a recovery period.

The Minister of Internal Trade, Betsy Díaz Velázquez, explained the steps planned in this area, such as adjustments in the regulated distribution of food and other products in an equitable manner. She quoted, among other aspects, the sale of food, protein and cleaning supplies in order to reach 11 million 150 thousand people through the family registry system established by the Cuban State.

The Cuban Council of Ministers created a temporary working group on Friday, March 27^th, to present new measures to strengthen the confrontation with the new coronavirus, headed by Gil Fernández. In this sense, the deputy prime minister pointed out that the measures will be applied gradually, because the current context does not have a defined period.