A month after the Cuban government announced that Cubans could once again deposit dollar cash into their bank accounts, Cuba’s state-owned CADECA announced that currency purchased at these establishments would also be accepted on magnetic cards. deposit, which is the only authorized means of payment. To buy in stores in the country’s freely convertible currency.
According to An advertisement The novelty of the financial entity Casas de Cambio SA (CADECA) is that from now on customers will be able to choose whether to buy foreign currency in cash or to deposit it on a card, he said on his social network.
According to the note, the purchasing process does not change and sales are limited to $100 per person based on the daily supply of each commercial office.
Of course, to use the purchase option, the interested party must request an appointment on the ticketing platform from the web or apply for mobile devices, create an account, and select the branch where they wish to purchase.
Cash authentication happens in real time and no commission is applicable, CADECA added.
So far, only 40 of the unit’s offices and one branch of the Banco Popular de Ahoro on Isla de la Juventud offer cash sales service in US dollars or equivalent in another currency, after the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) took over in mid-April. ) repealed the 2021 rule that restricted the acceptance of cash at banks and non-bank financial institutions.
In a note repeated by state media, the BCC then indicated that the decision “reacts to the current circumstances and priorities of the country’s economic policy, in a scenario where tourism is revived and productive activity and services gradually recover”. becomes.”
But for many Cubans and analysts, the change toward a ban on accepting dollars is evidence of a government’s greed for liquidity, with an increasingly acute crisis and a policy that does not respond to the most pressing problems of Cuba’s economic model. Is.
For economist Pedro Monreal, it was a “decision to ‘launder’ the black exchange market for dollars and to favor partial dollarization as a result of the increased use of dollars in private transactions.”
Ironically, he added in a tweet: “Thank god he studied monetary integration for ten years.”
One user commented in Monreal’s brief reflection, “It’s all an improvement; they don’t give a foot with the ball and in the process they destroy any financial credibility.”
“If they (the government) think they are going to pay off London’s debt with my money, they are very mistaken,” said another commenter.
Economist Elias Amor said in his blog: “The economy is not a matter of trust, but of respect for the laws and not interfering with them. With these coming and going, that ends up creating far more damage than it is intended to solve.” We do”.
“The flood of dollars into the Cuban economy is a bad decision for the stabilization policy announced by the regime. The act of ordering has been questioned once again and everyone remains calm. We will soon see declared losses. Exchange rate unofficial See. You’ll see,” he warned.
