Cuba grants state firms wage and price autonomy while opening private sector to foreign investment

In June 2026 Cuba's National Assembly approved a sweeping package of 176 economic and social reforms aimed at liberalising and decentralising the island's economy. The measures give state‑owned enterprises the right to set their own wages, prices, annual plans and to establish subsidiaries without prior approval, and create a new National Institute of State‑Owned Enterprise Assets to monitor returns and export earnings.

The reforms also lift the cap on private firms, allowing unlimited size, multiple ownership and the creation of private banks under central‑bank supervision. Foreign investors may now take direct stakes in private companies without having to partner with the state, and many previously barred activities are being freed up.

Tourism‑related changes include authorising Cuban franchises such as Tropicana to operate abroad, while transport reforms remove restrictions on car purchases for citizens. Officials present the package as the most significant structural shift since the 1990s Special Period, seeking to address a prolonged economic crisis marked by blackouts, shortages, inflation and a sharp population exodus.