Master of Science Ramón Labañino Salazar, vice president of the National Association of Economists and Accountants of Cuba (ANEC), stated that the exchange rates published by El Toque are not a legitimate economic indicator, but rather an instrument of destabilization.
Their effects, he specified, are profoundly damaging because they foster speculation, inflation, illegality, and distrust, thus undermining the efforts of the State and the Government to regulate the economy, protect the people’s purchasing power, and advance the country’s development.
Offering his views on the matter to the Cuban News Agency, the Hero of the Republic of Cuba asserted that publications and websites disseminating unofficial exchange rates, such as El Toque, operate outside the bounds of Cuban law.
He emphasized that their calculations are not based on the country’s productive economic reality or institutional mechanisms, but rather on speculation and informal dynamics that foster distortion and instability.
“Using these rates as a reference is illegal and harmful,” Labañino Salazar noted.
He opined that the solution lies not in legitimizing these illegal sources, but in strengthening official mechanisms, combating illegal activities, and continuing to refine the monetary and exchange rate system within the framework of the law and national sovereignty.
The exchange rate, he explained, is fundamental in any economy, and in Cuba, it is established and managed by the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC), based on the needs of the national economy and as part of the monetary and financial sovereignty policy of the largest of the Antilles.
In his remarks to the Cuban News Agency (ACN), the national vice president of the National Association of Economists of Cuba (ANEC) mentioned some of the negative effects that these illicit practices have on the Cuban economy.
He pointed first to the distortion of prices and economic planning, since the dissemination of an unofficial exchange rate creates a false benchmark that contaminates price formation in the informal market.
This hinders state and business economic planning, as it introduces a volatile variable unrelated to real economic fundamentals.
Second, he cited the promotion of inflation, since artificially inflating the perceived value of foreign currency puts upward pressure on the prices of goods and services, especially those linked to the freely convertible currency (MLC) market.
This erodes the purchasing power of citizens who receive their income in Cuban pesos (CUP), Labañino explained.
A third negative effect is the encouragement of speculative and illicit activities, since this rate becomes an incentive for harmful activities such as the illegal resale of foreign currency (known as the “black market”), hoarding of products, and the diversion of resources, discouraging legal production and trade.
Fourth, there is the disincentive to official remittances, because when an artificially high rate is disseminated, it creates a disincentive for remittances from abroad to enter through official financial channels (banks and exchange houses), thus depriving the national economy of legitimate foreign currency needed for essential imports.
The competitiveness of exports is also affected, since an overvalued unofficial exchange rate, which does not reflect the reality of production, harms the competitiveness of Cuban exporters by artificially increasing their costs in national currency compared to international prices.
Labañino also mentioned, as another effect, the erosion of confidence in the national currency (CUP), because the constant promotion of an alternative currency valuation undermines public trust in the Cuban peso, fueling the informal dollarization of the economy and weakening the monetary authority of the Central Bank of Cuba.
In his opinion, social inequalities are also exacerbated, since those with access to foreign currency through informal channels or remittances benefit from the distorted rate, while those who depend on CUP income see their purchasing power shrink, deepening the social gap.
He added that the existence of an informal and volatile exchange market generates uncertainty and a perception of risk among potential foreign investors, who require predictability and a clear legal framework for currency exchange transactions.
Ramon Labañino commented that the obstruction of the country’s economic policy is also a negative effect, since these illegal practices act as a mechanism of sabotage, directly interfering with the implementation of the Government Program, the Economic Plan, and the measures for macroeconomic stabilization.
Furthermore, the promotion and use of these unofficial exchange rates is aligned with the objectives of the economic war against Cuba, whose aim is to create instability, chaos, and economic mismanagement; it is yet another tool of the United States’ hostile policy to financially strangle the Cuban nation, the ANEC vice president concluded.
[ SOURCE: AGENCIA CUBANA DE NOTICIAS ]
