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CUBAN ECONOMY SHOWED MODEST GROWTH IN 2003.

Article Excerpt
Cuban Economy Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez announced at the end of December that GDP had grown by 2.6%, a substantial improvement over the previous year and more than had been predicted.

In a December report to the National Assembly, Rodriguez noted that the final GDP figures should exceed the earlier estimate by more than a percentage point and would exceed the average growth in Latin America as a whole.

The annual report on the region by the UN's Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) noted that regional growth in 2002 averaged -0.4% compared to 1.1% in Cuba. ECLAC estimates regional growth in 2003 at 1.5% compared with 2.6% in Cuba.

In the decade since the end of economic support from the former Soviet Union, the Cuban economy has slowly recovered from the disastrous 37% drop in GDP between 1989 and 1993. After an impressive 5.3% growth rate in 2000, growth slowed again to 2.5% in 2001 and 1.1% in 2002. The downturn was in part the result of restructuring and inefficiencies, but it was also in line with a generalized global recession following the terrorist attacks on the US in 2001.

A shortage of foreign exchange remained the chief drag on the economy. In July, the Central Bank announced new currency controls to manage the supply of foreign reserves. The rules require state banks and businesses to exchange foreign currencies for convertible pesos, which circulate only in Cuba and on a par with the...

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