Cuba Prime Minister Marrero announces sweeping market reforms

On June 18, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz addressed the National Assembly to approve a package of 176 economic and social reforms. The measures aim to preserve the achievements of the Revolution while introducing market mechanisms. Key reforms include authorising private banks under central‑bank supervision, creating private exchange houses, converting state enterprises into joint‑stock companies, removing the 100‑worker limit for small and medium‑sized enterprises, permitting individuals to own multiple businesses, allowing the private sector to import and sell fuel, expanding foreign‑capital participation, and shifting from universal subsidies to targeted aid for retirees and vulnerable citizens.

Marrero acknowledged four major tensions the reforms could create: the impact of increased dollarisation, the effects of subsidy removal on prices, the capacity of municipalities to manage decentralised functions, and the liberalisation of agricultural prices without a corresponding rise in production. The government stressed the changes are not a response to U.S. pressure but a sovereign adjustment to longstanding economic challenges exacerbated by recent U.S. sanctions.