Cuba's economy. Blog # 16

The stunning figure was revealed by Cuban leader Raúl Castro himself: The Cuban government and its enterprises might have more than one million excess workers on their payrolls.

That’s more than one million unproductive workers, out of what official Cuban figures show is a total of 4.9 million people working in formal jobs in a country of 11.2 million people.

And that’s part of the explanation, several economists said, for a calamitously over-centralized and unproductive economy that, for example, forces a tropical island to import an estimated 60 percent of the food its people consume. The Cuban government has historically insisted on keeping people officially employed, even in unproductive jobs. Unemployment was last reported at 1.6 percent by the National Statistics Office (ONE).

About 95 percent of the jobs in Cuba's formal sector are with the government -- ministries, their agencies and enterprises -- though salaries are so low, averaging about $20 a month, nationwide, that many Cubans also have off-the-books work to make ends meet.

But the figures on excess jobs in the government and its enterprises mentioned by Raúl Castro surprised even some Cuban economists.

``We know there's an excess of hundreds of thousands of workers in the budgeted and enterprise sectors (and) some analysts calculate that the excess of jobs is more than one million,'' he said Sunday in a speech to the Cuban Communist Youth.
There are ``inflated payrolls, very inflated payrolls, terribly inflated payrolls,'' Castro said before adding a reassurance: ``The revolution will not forsake anyone. I will fight to create the conditions so that all Cubans have honorable jobs.''

It was not the first time that Cuban officials have publicly acknowledged the government has far too many employees.
The commerce and restaurant sectors alone in Cienfuegos, Cuba's smallest province, have 1,400 too many employees, according to a recent report in the newspaper Trabajadores, run by the government-controlled Cuban Confederation of Workers (CTC),
The province's education sector also is overstaffed by 1,025, and the sports sector by 500, the newspaper added, quoting Marlén Jiménez, a provincial official of the CTC.

This is something that i find completely uneccesary , but the government has always had topo many employees and they have always said that they need them. This is something that Cuban government does not look at or pays attention to because they feel like the government employees are never too much. Many changes are needed in the Cuban government as well as the economy because if not then their economy will never rise the way they want the economy to rise. Many changes need to be made including these that they were talking about. Fidel Castro made sure that there was always many employees in the government so that the country would aklways be in charge and well positioned like he always had it. Maybe his brother will make some better changes so that the country could change to a better position, more freedom, ands a better economy. Thank you for readiong this blog.

Cuba's economy blog # 15

I recently read that potential buyers went to Cuba and made an agreement in Cuba to in crease the fligh schools. This is a big step in Cuba's economy and school. It will create moe jobs and the hunger for technology knowledge. These rich potential buyers made a deal with Cuba to increase the flight schools in Cuba and also increase the internet connection and bring more technologically advanced computers in the country so that they can be used for studying. The deal was made with the pourpuse of after the students were done studying in these schools and graduate, they would be sent to different countries where they will be needed to fly planes. More likely to middle east countries. This will be an increase of Cuba's economy and a great help for the Cuban people to also be interested in studying something so exiting as flights and to also be able to travel the world. Cuba's economy is said to grow 1.3 with this deal that was made. When the potential buyers were asked the reason for doing this, thewy said it was a good thing for Cuba's economy and also Cuba needed a technological upgrade and they wanted to be a part of it.

Cuba's Economy... Blog # 14

Cuba’s economic freedom score is 26.7, making its economy one of the world’s least free, ahead of only Zimbabwe and North Korea. Its overall score is 1.2 points lower than last year, reflecting primarily a worsened score in investment freedom. Cuba is ranked at the bottom of 29 countries in the South and Central America/Caribbean region, and its overall score is less than half of the regional average.

Cuba’s overall economic freedom remains severely hampered by institutional constraints, and the private sector is very limited. Because the government dictates most economic policies, many aspects of economic activity are tightly controlled by the state. No courts are free of political interference, entrepreneurship is impeded, and private property is strictly regulated. Lack of transparency and excessive regulations limit trade and investment.

I think this is very sad for Cuba's situation since Cuba depends on China and Venezuela very much. The freedom of economy in Cuba is a very big barrier for the Cuban people to make anything out of themselves, which has them stuck at the same level forever without the opportunity of having a higher class or get higher wages. The government controls everything and it will remain that way until Cuba is not communist anymore. The government has taken the control of everything in Cuba where the people have no option but to follow rules and do as the government states. The people don't have the chance of creating their own business or make any investments which leaves them just living in Cuba without any hope of economical progress. Its sad but its the truth. Hopefully things change in Cuba and everything gets better for them. The new plans have been working but it is still all about the government, the people get only a small advantage on these new plans. Cuba just actually came out with a new brand of Cohiba cigars that were specially grown and rolled to make 100 boxes this year. 100 boxes is equal to 5000 cigars since each box has 50 cigars. Each box was priced at $750,000 and they are all already sold this year. Cuba has plans of growing these plants again and make these cigars again in 2016, but grow enough to make about 10,000 boxes for the year of 2016.
Enjoy the blog.

Cuba's economy.. blog #13

Marino Murillo, Cuban Economy and Planning Minister said this Friday in Havana that Cuba began 2010 with better organization over the previous year, although the international situation remains tense.Speaking to the press after a meeting with representatives of the National Association of Economists and Accountants of Cuba (ANEC), Murillo called to work smarter, with organization and creativity, as the challenges continue to be huge and complex. Murillo said that only by producing material goods the country can move forward.After reiterating that the GDP will increase this year, the Minister said that growth must be accompanied by sustainable development.

Murillo stressed on the need for Cuba to ensure the expected income to address problems, as requested by the Cuban President Raúl Castro, speaking last December before the National Parliament Assembly.
On the policy followed by the Cuban government toward foreign investment, the Minister stressed that there are well defined legal regulations and explained that the doors remain open to those who can provide market, finance and technology.
Murillo underscored the valuable contribution can make economists and accountants all over the country regarding the search for solutions to the problems of the nation, such as export promotion and substitution imports.

If Cuba keeps making these improvements from my pint of view, this will be a great year for them. Every time i read something about Cuba and the economy, the plans are great. Well have to wait and see if it all works out. The plans so far are very prosperitive which i think is amazing for them but you never know with these people how everything could end. If the GDP is increasing this year that's even better for them. All the struggle the Cuban people go through is very sad and this could help them live a little better if the government does not keep all the money like always and actually think about helping the people and increase the money and construction in towns. Hopefully everything will work out for the best. electronic devices and technology is always a plus in a country's economy and if Cuba acquire all these new materials to work with , it will definitely help them a lot.

Cuba's Economy.. Blog # 12

The director of the Tabaco de Cuba Entrepreneurial Group (TABACUBA) Oscar Basulto, who is also the president of Habanos S.A. Company said that more than 200,000 persons participate during the peak of the Cuban tobacco-leaf harvest.
Basulto gave an explanation on the island’s production of cigars and cigarettes and said that Habanos are considered as the best premium cigars in the world, while they are being commercialized in more than 100 countries by Habanos S.A.The executive explained that the national cigarette consumption reaches 12 billions units every year and that the industry expects to further improve production quality and increase its yield up to 15 billion cigarettes annually. He also said that by the end of this year Cuba could reach maximum employment which i think is great for Cuba and its economy. This is a nice goin for Cuba so far.

Tobacco is an important product for Cubans, from the cultural, economical, and historic perspective. The tobacco industry is a Cuban major economic sector. In western Pinar del Rio province alone, so famous for the quality of its tobacco plantations, more than 25,500 persons are employed in the sector. More than 50,000 employees are expected by the end of 2010 which i keep thinking is great as long as it really does happen. I also think that a rise is necessary too in the salary for the Cubans since they get paid such a small amount of money in Cuba. Right now the average salary in Cuba is US $18 a month.


Habanos S.A. executives said on Monday sales fell 8 percent to $360 million in 2009, so they have created the Julieta, a smaller, milder version of the Romeo y Julieta cigar, aimed specifically at female smokers.Women now make up only 5 to 10 percent of customers for Habanos, the worldwide distributor of Cuban cigars, marketing director Ana Lopez told a news conference kicking off the annual Habanos cigar festival.The Julieta is an attempt to overcome perceptions among women that Cuban cigars are made up of "only strong tobacco for men," she said.The search for new markets is needed because even though Cuban cigars are considered the world's finest, sales are slipping with the rise of anti-smoking laws around the world, said Habanos vice president Manuel Garcia.
Even with the creation of the Julieta, Garcia said Habanos has only modest hopes for 2010 sales, due largely to a weak economy in Spain, the biggest market for Cuban cigars.Habanos -- which produces other well-known brands such as Cohiba, Monte Cristo, Trinidad and Partagas -- has about 71 percent of the sales in its markets, Garcia said.The U.S. market, the largest in the world with 230 to 250 million cigars smoked annually, is off limits to Habanos due to the U.S. trade embargo imposed against Cuba since 1962..

All these plans sound great to me since a maximum employment in Cuba would be very efficient and good for the Cuban people. These plans and news that i find in the internet and the newspapers sound good to my ears and make me feel like there is hope for the Cuban people and somehow they will get what they deserve for all they do in the country. If the embargo opens and Cuba is able to trade with USA it would help the Cuban people greatly since doors would be open and and chances would be taken from the people in Cuba for the better of them. Communism has taken Cuba, which was a very rich country before 1959, to a devastating image and figure. Hopefully everything changes and it all becomes better for the best of everybody in the world. This way the Cuban people could leave the country if they wanted to and we can also visit the country too. The economy in the country would greatly grow and maximum employment would be reached too with a higher chance of Cuba getting back what it deserves.

Cuba's economy.. blog #11

Yesterday in the newspapers i saw that the Cuban enterprise CIMEX is fostering the commercialization of new products such as the Caney rum (12-year aged) with the purpose of increasing its exports and sales amidst the current international financial crisis.This new rum, called Super Premium, is manufactured by the rum industry in eastern Santiago de Cuba.Tranquilino Palencia Estruch, an expert in the manufacture of this rum, said that the initial production of Caney 12 Years has already been sold to Bodegas Torres and the Sotabac Company, which will distribute the product.Dagnet Flores Aldana, Development Manager of CIMEX’s Wholesale Division, explained that they traditionally commercialize rum brands such as Caney and Varadero as well as the Cubita coffee although they are now promoting the sale of charcoal, mainly in Europe.

I think this is a great idea for Cuba since their plans to rise the economy of the country have been working slowly. Cuba's economy needs to grown in order to get better and by making these plans to create new products and export them, it will be a lot of help. The creation of this new rum is good since Cuba's rum is very demanded in Europe and people enjoy them very much. Also in Canada, the Cuban rum is very well enjoyed also. To me, Cuba should stay creating new projects and working on their economy and also on their government system. Cuba needs all the help possible to flow and for its economy to grow more. If Cuba keep these plans and projects, then they will have an economy boost and rum has always worked out well for Cuba so i hope they keep it up.

Cuban economy.. Blog #10

The Cuban economy is facing some current changes for the better of it. The country maintains as a communist country but more jobs are being created and prices on food was said to be dropped a bit. Cuba has been facing communism since 1959 when Fidel Castro took over the country. Ever since 1959, all the people who owned businesses and farms were basically kicked out of their property and soon they fled from the country. The government took power of all the businesses and farms in Cuba and lucky were the people who were able to leave the country.
Soon enough after that, Castro became affiliated with all the other communist countries to make trades with them. In 1980, United Stated allowed Cuba to send people over, and what Castro did was clean all the jails in Cuba and send all the criminals to this country. That was called the boat-lift. All those Cubans came to this country and started taking over Miami and also the Tampa area.
Cuba's economy grew more since they got rid of all those people and were getting most of their supplies from USSR. Cuba participated in many wars that they had no business in going to but Castro obviously does not care about his people, so he sent many soldiers to Nicaragua, Angola, and Ethiopia. Many Cubans were killed and tortured in those countries, which was completely unnecessary but like I said, Castro does not care about his people. Recently with his "sickness", his brother Raul took over the country and has been the president for the past two years. Since Fidel's illness, nothing has been known about him, other than what Raul says on TV. Raul has made some smarts move towards the economy of Cuba and its well being. President Obama has gotten in touch with him and they have discussed some issues between the countries and now a couple of things have changed. The economy of Cuba now is slowly growing, and hopefully soon it will open up with USA and open the embargo so that the two countries will make trades.
Hopefully everything works for the best of both countries and each country can enrich from this deal.

Cuba's economy.. blog #9

Cuba has plans of opening new farms to make the economy better. Cuba knows that opening more farms will increase the jobs, make the food cheaper, and also increase the agriculture in the country. Cuban Government also said that they will be opening more cigar factories in the the city areas so that the production of cigars will increase and also it will create more jobs as more cigar roller will be needed. The Cuban Government also stated that they will be reopening the sugar canes farms and factories as the demand for sugar canes has grown tremendously in the last ten years. Another plan that the Government has and it is already working on is making more hotels and tourists resorts as the tourism in Cuba has grown in the past five years. Cuba is making more accommodations for tourism. These are all plans that will make the economy increase very much and also create more jobs and attract more people. The economy has lightly increase and these changes that will be made will make Cuba's economy increase even more. Of course as we all know everything belongs to the government and it will control everything. The people will probably stay at minimum wages and hoping for a better, free day. This project that Cuba is working will take approximately from 5 to 10 years.

I found this information in the internet and magazines.

Cuba's economy.. blog #8. Cuba's new plans

Cuba came out with an ambitious project to ring urban areas with thousands of small farms to try to reverse the country's agricultural decline and make better its chronic economic woes.
The five-year plan calls for growing fruits and vegetables and raising livestock in four mile-wide rings around 150 of Cuba's cities and towns, with the exception of the capital Havana.

The island's authorities hope suburban farming will make food cheaper and more abundant, cut transportation costs and encourage urban dwellers to leave bureaucratic jobs for more productive labor.
But the government will continue to hold a monopoly on most aspects of food production and distribution, including its control of most of the land in the communist-run nation.
The pilot programmed for the project is being conducted in the central city of Camaguey, which the Cuban agriculture ministry has said eventually will have 1,400 small farms covering 52,000 hectares (128,490 acres), just minutes outside the town.
The farms, mostly in private hands but also including some cooperatives and state-owned enterprises, must grow everything organically, and the ministry expects they will produce 75% of the food for the city of 320,000 people, with big state-owned farms providing the rest.

Found this information on the internet and newspapers.

Cuba's economy.. blog #7

Cuba's tourism has incredibly increased in the past two years. This was by the new laws and accommodations that Cuba made for tourism. The tourist in Cuba grew in the past two years by approximately 8%. Cuban Tourism Minister Marrero Cruz said that the biggest source market of tourists to the island remains Canada, with 900 thousand vacationers reported so far, followed by the UK and Spain, which held a significant increase in recent months. Marrero said that in the current year Cuba completed some two thousand new rooms in the major tourist centers of the country, although the fundamental weight was concentrated in the capital.
Over 60 percent of products marketed in the network of hotels and other accommodation, is of national origin, said the official, who noted that Cuba's tourism industry employs around 200 000 workers.
Development strategy, which began this year and runs through 2015, provides for new investments in Guardalavaca, Cayo Coco, Varadero, Trinidad and Havana.
For that period, Cuba will also work towards the creation of golf courses.
Also it will prioritize the training of new methods, which means turning each hotel, restaurant, or establishment into a tourism school, and its best managers and specialists in teachers who are responsible to train the generations that will continue developing the sector tourism.
I think this is great idea for Cuba because by making all these new accommodations, the country will be able to attract more people and also make the tourists feel more comfortable and happy about spending their vacation in Cuba. Cuba's economy has slowly increased a bit due to these new laws and changes. Tourism takes the biggest part in Cuba's economy, therefore it is very important for Cuba to take steps to improve what gives them the biggest percentage of their money. Tourism in Cuba will keep growing if Cuba keep taking steps towards improving the facilities and accommodations for tourists. This is very smart and productive for the Cuba economy. I hope you liked and enjoyed the blog, and learned something from it. I found this information on google.com and mostly on the newspaper (Rebelde from Cuba).

Cuba's economy.. blog #6

The Cuban state has experienced a growth in demand for wages, social security, and subsidies, imported goods have been shortened,such as food, and other goods. Cubans have to stand in long lines to obtain limited amount of food supplied. Most needed items cannot be obtained with pesos and were obtained only on the black market with U.S. dollars. Inflation resulted because the government kept making more pesos, even though there were almost no goods available. In order to restore the value of the peso, a program was initiated to reduce the excessive amount of money in circulation. Part of this program was that the government increased the prices of many consumer goods and services, and also created a new tax law, and ended subsidies to businesses that were not economically successful. While these changes occurred, it increased the difficulty of daily living for the average Cuban, but the government have gradually restored the value of the peso.
Before 1993, the U.S. dollar, even though illegal, was used widely on the black market to obtain necessary goods for daily survival. In 1993, the dollar was legalized and Casas de Cambio, (houses of exchange) were established to exchange pesos and dollars. Cuba has created a dual system—a dollar economy and a peso economy—that has certain places where pesos can be used and others where the convertible pesos only are accepted. Since 2005 The US dollar stopped circulating in Cuba and now it is exchanged for the Cuban convertible peso. The Cuban pesos have always been very unstable which is very hard for the Cuban people because they get paid very low and the Cuban pesos lose more value every time a change is made in the currency of Cuba.
Since 1993, foreign banks had been allowed to do business in Cuba to supply financial services such as insurance, foreign commercial investments, and savings accounts. In 1997, a new central bank, the Banco Central De Cuba, was created to supervise and regulate Cuba's growing banking sector. The old bank, Banco Nacional De Cuba, had performed both the roles of central bank and state-owned commercial bank, but would now operate only as a commercial bank. Nevertheless, a very narrow sector of the Cuban population requires banking services. Very few people earn enough money to be able to invest or save.
Hope this information is useful for whoever reads it. Hope you learn something from it. I found this information in a research through google.com and a couple of magazines and newspapers.


I know this has nothing to do with macroeconomics but since we are talking about certain countries i would like to add something else about Cuba. Cuba is very well known not only for their cigars and rum but also for their salsa music along with guaguanco, timbales, charanga, bolero, cha cha cha, danzon, and many other types of music that are very famous among Latin people and people who are interested in Spanish music. Also, Cuba is very famous for baseball since they are the best in the world with the most Olympics won, and the most world championships won in baseball way ahead of any other country like Japan, Korea, USA or Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic. Also boxing, which Cubans are the best amateur boxers in the history of boxing with the the highest world championships, and Olympics gold, silver, and bronze medal counts, and volleyball which the females are also the best in the world with the most medals in Olympics and world championships. Below I posted some videos for your entertainment. Again i repeat, i know this has nothing to do with macro but i thought it would be cool for whoever does not know, to find out. Enjoy...

Cuba's economy. Blog #5 The banking system in Cuba and Cuba's monetary system

Cuba's main bank is The central bank of Cuba. The bank's purpose is:
* To issue the national currency and seek for its stability.
* To contribute to the macroeconomic balance and orderly development of the economy.
* To keep custody of the country’s international reserves.
* To propose and implement a monetary policy which allows to attain the economic goals established by the country.
* To ensure normal internal and external payment operations.
* To dictate mandatory regulations.
* To exercise the functions related to the discipline and supervision of the financial institutions and representative offices authorized to establish themselves in the country and of any other entrusted to it by the laws.

As you can see the banking in Cuba is quite different than the banking in basically almost the rest of world. Since the country is a communist the country, the state remains with control of everything. Cuba has eight commercial banks. The people in Cuba don't save money in the bank because it is so controlled by the government that a person could go to jail for many years if this person has a lot of money saved, since the government knows this is not possible because the employees in Cuba get paid very low. These are the eight commercial banks in Cuba:
* Banco de Crédito y Comercio (BANDEC) (Credit Bank)
* Banco Popular de Ahorro (BPA)(Popular savings Bank)
* Banco Financiero Internacional (BFI)(International Financial Bank)
* Banco Internacional de Comercio S.A. (BICSA)(International commerce bank)
* Banco Metropolitano S.A.
Cuba's investment bank is Banco de Inversiones S.A.



This is the credit and commercial bank. Banco de Crédito y Comercio (BANDEC) was created as a commercial bank. It holds a General License granted by the Central Bank of Cuba , which empowers it to carry out universal functions inherent to commercial banking in operations in the national territory and abroad.
BANDEC distributes its services by means of a network of over 200 branches, completely automated, located throughout the whole country. Another way the bank does its distribution is a remote interconnection system, called Virtual-BANDEC, which allows customers to have access to their account and contract other services from their computers without physical presence at the bank.

The monetary system of Cuba is a dual-value decimal based system, with the primary unit of Cuban money being called the Peso. There are two separate types of money flowing in Cuba.That is the National Cuban Peso and the Cuban Convertible Peso. The Cuban Convertible Peso, also called the chavito, is used to exchange the dollar for it since the U.S. dollar stopped circulating in Cuba. Cuban citizens are paid their salaries in the Cuban Peso, and it is this money in which goods and foods are traded. The exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Cuban Convertible Peso is officially 1 to 1. In Cuban pesos it would be 28 pesos for 1 USD.
The peso lost value due to the United States embargo against Cuba and the suspension of the sugar quota. Cuban money like most communist countries has no currency value outside the country.
I found this information on Google and the Miami herald. I thought this would be an interesting topic since we talked about banks and money in the class. Since the money in Cuba has no value outside the country and Cuba uses another type of money that the USD is converted to, i thought this might interest the person that reads this blog. Economy is Cuba is a very interesting topic from my viewpoint since it is so different from the other countries because everything is controlled by the government. I thought it would also be interesting to talk about the Banks in Cuba, so i hope this information feeds your knowledge a bit.

Cuba's economy. Blog #4 (IT Labor Market)

Cuba has one of the best educated workforces in Latin America. Nevertheless, since the job opportunities are offered by the government, the chances for professionals are only a few.Cuba has the highest educated population in Latin America. 95.7% of Cubans are literate.Cuba has a total of 47 universities and total university enrollment is approximately 112,000 per year.

LABOR MARKET:
Cuba has an active population of 4.5 workers. The labor market is comprised of the following sectors: services and government, 30%; industry, 22%; agriculture, 20%; commerce, 11%; construction, 10%; and transportation and communications, 7%. High-tech workers are included in the services and government category. Approximately 170,000 Cubans are self-employed. Since the 1980's the rate of university enrollment went down since the salaries are very low and the jobs and employees are chosen by the government making the chances for success very hard for the people.

INCOME AND PURCHASING POWER:
The salaries in Cuba are very poor which is the major reason why studying has gone down a bit. The professionals in Cuba make a very small amount of money monthly which is very sad.Monthly salaries in state-run positions range from 150-200 pesos for secretaries and laborers to 300-425 pesos for engineering and medical professionals. Government-sponsored pensions range from 120-190 pesos per month. Currently, 30 pesos equate to $1 USD.

To give an indication of purchasing power, consider the following price listing at a Havana farmers market:

1 pound rice: 15 pesos
1 bunch carrots: 10 pesos
1 pound black bean: 20 pesos
1 pound pork: 32 pesos
1 turkey: 300 pesos
1 chicken: 120 pesos

IT LABOR SUPPLY AND DEMAND
Cuba's largest IT programs are at ISPAJE and the University of Habana, which are creating a larger IT graduate base to rise the Cuban economy. More than 18,000 students have graduated from computer science and computer engineering programs. However,the Cuban high-tech industry currently employs only 6,000 workers.

The Cuban government's attitude towards information and lack of Internet access are a constraint. Currently, the Cuban government invests 1.17% of GDP to technological research and development. IT professionals are increasing, with a rate of 1.8 scientists and engineers per 1,000 citizens, 47 universities, and over 200 research and development centers. However, IT training is restricted by the technology currently in use. Much of Cuban connectivity is based on the X.25 protocol, which is outdated and poorly suited to IP traffic. Technological training will likely shift when more capital is available.

There is limited access to hardware and information in Cuba. IT professionals must contend with 2,400 bps data transfers and constant redialing to make connections. Cuban technicians cannot go online and download the latest version of software or hardware and very few have access to technical books or industry journals .

Since Cuba is not a nation enriched in IT such as the United States or other higher-income nations, the focus of Cuban IT is still on programming and not on other areas such as training or hardware development. Cuban IT professionals continue to meet the country's technical needs, but with antiquated IT infrastructure and poor anti-piracy laws, few IT professionals are flocking to the software development industry.

Currently because of the communism in Cuba a lot of the people who want to study, usually think about it twice because they figure that their chances to succeed are higher by working with the tourists that visit the country that actually graduating from an university because their salary is going to be miserable while when working with tourists in resorts or restaurants they will make in a weekend more than they will make in a month of salary working on a career.

Without Castro in the power and Cuba becoming a democratic country, i think that Cuba would be one of the most successful countries in America. There is a lot of smart people and hardworking. The rate of immigration right now in Cuba is 1.54 person per 100 citizens. Cuba could be a country with one of the best economies if it became a democratic country.

Found this information on Google, and a Magazine called Rebelde.

Cuba's economy.. blog #3

In Cuba the businesses and employees are controlled by the government. No one is able to own his own business because everything belongs to the government. Even the employees that are chosen to work at anywhere, they are chosen by the government. Cuba's inflation rate is....(consumer price)
Year
2003- 7.10 %
2004- 4.10 %
2005- 3.10 %
2006- 7.00 %
2007- 5.00 %
2008- 3.10 %
2009- 3.40 %

Cuba has suffered major hits and economy downs since the fall of the Soviet which were Cuba's major supplier. Ever since Cuba has not been able to recuperate completely from that big economy fall it suffered in 1989. From 2000 on Venezuela has been Cuba's major supplier, mostly supplying petroleum and oil to Cuba. Cuba has paid portion of the money and the rest has been paid by Cuba sending about 30,000 professional doctors to Venezuela. Also, since the fall of the Soviet Union Cuba's unemployment rate went up. Many sugar cane centrals were closed and the value of the dollar went up from 20 pesos a dollar up to 150 pesos per dollar. The crisis since 1989 has been tragic for the people in Cuba.In those times the unemployment rate in Cuba wet up to about 21%.
This is Cuba's most current unemployment rate...
Year
2003- 4.10 %
2004- 2.60 %
2005- 1.90 %
2006- 1.90 %
2007- 1.90 %
2008- 1.80 %
2009- 1.60 %
Cuba reached its full employment condition, when registering a rate of 2,6% in 2004 and of 1,9 % in January, 2005. Cuba have slowly been kind of recovering little by little from the economy fall in 1989. The economy of Cuba still need a lot of work to build up and the open trade with its closest neighbor U.S.A is very necessary, but until an agreement is reached then there probably wont be much change in Cuba's economy. Spain, Venezuela, and Canada are still Cuba's top trading partners but since the system in Cuba is so controlled by the government and the people that live in the country is not able to own anything or to have a freedom, United States have not wanted to reach an understanding with Cuba's communist president, Fidel Castro.

Cuba is still making its money based on tourism, cigars, crops and fish. The economy of the country could be better is the sugar cane centrals would open again.
I think that Cuba's economy could be better if Castro decided to make the country a free country and open it to everybody in the world. People would visit Cuba and would be able to enjoy its natural beauty and resources. People from United States would be able to visit and enjoy nice vacations there. Their rum could exported here, the cigars also, sweet potatoes and all the other crops that Cuba produces. Cuba's economy would boost up and the people would actually be able to study and become something and they would also be able to own businesses and invest money and create employments and so on.

I found this information on Google, the Miami herald, Cuban newspapers, and magazines.



GDP (purchasing power parity)
$108.2 billion (2008 est.)
$103.7 billion (2007 est.)
$96.67 billion (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars

GDP (official exchange rate)
$54.71 billion (2008 est.)

GDP - real growth rate
4.3% (2008 est.)
7.3% (2007 est.)
12.1% (2006 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 4.4%
industry: 22.8%
services: 72.8% (2008 est.)
Population below poverty line

NA%
Labor force
4.962 million
note: state sector 78%, non-state sector 22% (2008 est.)

Labor force - by occupation
agriculture: 20%
industry: 19.4%
services: 60.6% (2005)

Cuban cigars. Cuban economy. Blog #2

Cuba has the best tobacco in the world due to the soil and the climate of the island. Cuba has been famous for the cigars production in the country since the 1800's. We also know that Cuba exports many cigars to Europe, Canada, and South America. As competition grew with the cigars and the other producing countries, the price also raised. The Cuban cigars right now are going anywhere from $20 to $500 a cigar. The most famous Cuban cigar is the Cohiba cigars which are also the most expensive ones. The best tobacco in Cuba is grown in the Pinar del Rio province. Also we all know that cuban cigars are illegal in the United States due to the embargo. Tobacco in Cuba is grown and processed very carefully and is very well taken care of. The employees that work in the tobacco farms get paid very low money and are exposed everyday to many viruses and bacterias due to the high attraction of bugs and worms that the tobacco plants produce. Also after the tobacco is processed and grown, which takes approximately 3 years, it is taken to the factories of cigars where the tobacco will be rolled. The cigars rollers in Cuba have to go to school and graduate to be able to work in a cigar factory in Cuba. the quality control of the cigar in Cuba is very strict. A cigar roller will roll every day about 80 cigars, and only about 30 will make it to a box of Cuban cigars. The cigar rollers also get paid a very small amount of money. Each farmer and a cigar roller will make approximately about $10 a month and will produce enough for the government to make on cigars about $20,000 in cigars. I know it sound ridiculous but these are facts. Since the competition raised with the cigars since the 1970's the cigars price also did and Cuban cigars became very expensive. The Cohiba Behike which is Cuba's most expensive cigar is valued at $500 a stick and it comes in a special made humidor box that holds 40 cigars and it costs $20,000. This box has to be ordered directly from Cuba and paid for before it is made. Since Cuban cigars became so expensive, it was far from many cigar lovers budget, and that's when the black market with Cuban cigars started. Up to date, all the countries that import Cuban cigars also have the very well known counterfeit ones too, which affects Cuba's economy in a big way. Since these fake Cuban cigars are made locally, usually in Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Miami, they are very cheap and much easier to sell to customers. Most of the time a person who does not have very much experience smoking cigars will get fooled by these counterfeits since they will be offered at a much lower price than they are marketed. Penalties are applied for selling counterfeits Cuban cigars but they are made identical to the ones sold in Cuba, the only difference is the taste of the cigars and that will only be known if the customer smoking it has experience or knows a true Cuban cigar. Since these counterfeit Cuban cigars started being sold, that has caused Cuba to go from making $400-500 million a year to &150-250 million a year, which is a drastic change of 50% less cigars being exported. Fortunately, Cuba has been able to maintain a balance due to the tourists that visit Cuba each year. Minimum wage is paid to the employees in Cuba which has also stopped the people in the country the pursuit of cigar rolling careers and tobacco farms. In the past three years the production of fake Cuban cigars has raised to about 25% more than the last 15 years. Cuba has not lowered the prices of their cigars but Cuban cigars still remain the top sellers in the world.
Some of this information i researched it at Google and got from such websites as http://www.cuban-cigars.ws/cuban_cigars/cuban_cigars.html, and http://www.cubancigarshistory.com/, but most of this information i know it and read it in newspapers, and magazines.
This is Cuba's gdp per capita

Cuba's economy

Cuba's economy is mostly controlled by the government. It is a socialist and communist country which means that the government controls everything. Free education and free health is provided to the residents of the country. Their climate helps the economy of the country very much. as well known the best cigars in the world are made in Cuba, and of course the tobacco is grown there. Also the sugar canes are a resource of income. Crops like sweet potatoes, beans, potatoes, rice, corn etc are exported to many countries from Cuba. Coffee grown in Cuba is also a major export and a great income resource. The fishing in Cuba since its located in the Caribbean its very good and is also used as an income resource. The fishing industry in Cuba is one of the largest in Latin America exporting fish to almost all the countries America. The country's most important income comes from the tourists that visit the island from Canada, Europe, and south America. Holland, Canada, China, Spain, Italy, and Venezuela are the country's most important trading partners.
Cuba suffered its biggest economy down in the 1990s when the Soviet Union fell, since they were their biggest importers of goods. Ever since then, they have been slowly building their economy up by upgrading the facilities to the tourists in the island, the manufacture of cigars and exports of crops , and fish. The Cuban economy has suffered some down ever since the fall of the Soviet Union by big hurricanes in the early 2000s but has managed maintain its economy level.Cuba has stopped in the last few years it imports from its top trading partners by almost 50%. The global crisis has affected Cuba in a major way because the country has very low money reserve.
The unemployment in Cuba is as we could say "steady" since the jobs are controlled by the state. Cuba has obtain a large amount of financial help from Venezuela which has helped the economy of the country to raise a bit. Cuba's annual growth rate since 2001 is from 3% to 8% up to date. Cuba's major imports are petroleum, food, machinery, and chemicals.