Cuba's Economic Opening

For tourism-related private services, the package would “put an end to decades of state exclusivity” and remove concrete limits for private firms, including lowering the operational barriers that previously included a “limit of 100 workers” and a ban on a single individual owning more than one company.

In the foreign-currency banking reform, Cuba’s government says deposits must be accompanied by a “declaration of the legal origin of funds and the right of withdrawal,” and the policy explicitly reverses the Central Bank’s June 21, 2021 decision to stop accepting U.S. dollar cash deposits—an earlier move that “severely impacted private businesses” reliant on foreign currency from tourism and remittances.

The currency-focused changes are framed against a widening peso crisis: one report cites the dollar trading at about “685 Cuban pesos” in the informal market versus “558 pesos” at the Central Bank official rate—an over “127 pesos per dollar” gap—said to be driving informal operations and undercutting the state’s ability to collect foreign currency.

The business-capitalization overhaul includes specific provisions: Measure 12 would “allow and encourage companies (including private companies) to make financial investments,” Measure 13 calls for instruments enabling capitalization “without the participation of the State budget,” and Measure 14 orders a National Program to value and title state assets—covering tangible and intangible assets—creating “executable property certificates” for bank-credit collateral and enabling state firms to monetize underutilized assets via long-term leasing (including to foreign investment).