New measures that demonstrate the progress of the Government Program to correct distortions and reimpulse the economy during the year 2025 were announced on Wednesday by the member of the Political Bureau and Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, at the February meeting with the governors and the mayor of the special municipality of Isle of Youth.
He explained that these are actions to encourage savings, based on the updating of electricity rates in certain sectors, the centralized regulation of maximum retail prices for rice and beans of national production, the updating of the construction price system for all economic actors, business modalities between state entities and non-state management forms, seeking productive linkages, and the use of prepaid cards by legal entities for the purchase, mainly, of fuels.
Likewise, other measures are aimed at the application of incentives to recover the attraction of foreign investors in the Mariel Special Development Zone, the implementation of a new mechanism for the management, control and allocation of foreign currency for all economic actors, the reorganization of trade carried out by non-state management forms, and the redistribution of the non-execution of the salary fund in the budgeted units, in order to encourage the permanence of the labor force, based on the fulfillment of their functions and missions.
In the meeting, in which it was reiterated that the Government Program -approved last January, in the meeting of the Council of Ministers- is "a transversal issue, which includes all the essences and policies of the economic and social life of the country," Marrero Cruz pointed out that the measures are in the process of implementation, based on the assurance they require and, on them, more information will be provided in the next few days.
MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH CARE
Improving last year's results of the Maternal and Child Health Care Program is a great challenge not only for health workers, but also an objective prioritized by the Cuban State and Government. For that reason, the meeting -from the Palace of the Revolution and through videoconference- insisted on the comprehensiveness and the necessary approach to be taken from multiple sectors and organizations, in order to continue joining forces in the attention of this sensitive program.
Dr. Reynold García Moreiro, Deputy Minister of Public Health, pointed out that, for 2025, a strategic plan with actions to be developed in the territories has been planned, among them, implementing new measures for the reorganization and operation of primary health care. "A process of transformations was already made throughout the country, aimed at guaranteeing medical coverage, according to the new premises of organization of the program of family doctors and nurses."
In addition, he said that work is being done to complete the management structure in primary and secondary health care, the preparation and training on the control of the program, as well as to continue perfecting the established protocols.
In this regard, the Prime Minister reflected that, in the midst of a war economy, we have to concentrate on solving subjective problems. He wondered why there are territories that, with the same situation, are doing well, and others are not, "We have to see how to reverse this situation, minimize any subjective problem or that could reach a solution, based on our own efforts".
The operation of municipal agro-industrial enterprises was another topic on the agenda. Ydael Pérez Brito, Minister of Agriculture, pointed out that this decision is part of the process of decentralization of competences to the territories and of the implementation of the Food Sovereignty and Food and Nutritional Security Law. He added that, to date, 116 companies in 110 municipalities have been transferred, merged or authorized to be created by the Ministry of Economy and Planning.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca, insisted on systematically evaluating the productive and economic capacities and results of the companies.
In this, he asserted, the Ministries of Economy and Planning, Finance and Prices, the National Tax Administration Office..., all the organizations that must contribute to make these companies, in the coming months, be examples in the country, must be involved. The best cooperatives have to be in these companies, which have more than 1,300 productive forms, he pointed out.
COMMUNAL SERVICES IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The last item on the agenda of the meeting was the presentation of a policy proposal for the operation and control of communal services, one of the most sensitive public issues. In the Prime Minister's opinion, this is a service that has a transversal impact on the economic and social life of the country, and he highlighted the responsibility that the provinces and municipalities must have in guaranteeing their communal services.
"We know that there will always be objective issues associated with resources that will not have a solution in the short term, but many things can be done", said Marrero Cruz, after the in-depth report that analyzed the background, causes and conditions that have had an impact on the current situation of communal services.
The proposal seeks to prioritize process management and the application of the circular economy, among other tools; to rationally define the budget needs for local governments to finance all the activities required; as well as to dignify the work of this sector, due to its importance and significance in national, territorial and local life, including a program of integral attention to all personnel.
Sharing several reflections with the participants in the meeting, the Prime Minister assured that no one can be surprised by the complex scenario we are living this year. He insisted that the intensified blockade and the measures of persecution and financial pressures are the main challenge, but there are also shortcomings that affect the capacity to comply with the proposed programs and objectives. He reiterated that "there are many things that can be done differently."
