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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Cuban currency hits record low as dollarization gains ground
By Marc Frank HAVANA -The Cuban peso traded on the informal market at an all-time low of 400 to the dollar on Monday, as the partial dollarization of the state-dominated economy gained momentum, stoking social tensions amid scarcity of basic goods, runaway inflation, and deteriorating infrastructure and public services. The import-dependent country's government mainly blames U.S. sanctions targeting foreign exchange earnings for the crisis that has led to an 11% contraction of the economy since 2019. Critics blame a sluggish reform of the economy. Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said in December that a partial dollarization of the economy was needed to capture greenbacks circulating in the country as part of efforts to fix the economy. Partial dollarization refers to the dollar replacing the local peso for certain goods and services. The peso has depreciated nearly 25% this year, according to Miami-based tracker El Toque, used by most residents in the Communist-run country to gauge the peso's true value. The dollar was trading at 305 pesos on January 1 and 40 pesos when the tracker debuted in 2021. The currency's weakening this year has coincided with government moves to open well-stocked retail outlets that accept only convertible currency in cash, foreign credit cards, or a state-issued dollar card, and increased use of those forms of payment in tourism, wholesale trade, and to pay customs duties. HAVES AND HAVE NOTS Government officials have acknowledged dollarization and inflation have increased inequality in a country where about 40% of the population has no access to foreign currency through remittances or other sources. That dollar-less population generally does not earn enough in state jobs or on pensions to meet basic needs. 'To overcome this (economic) situation, we have been forced to accept the partial dollarization of the economy,' President Miguel Diaz-Canel told the National Assembly last month. 'This in some ways benefits those who have certain capital resources or receive remittances, which translates into an undesirable widening of … social inequality." The government maintains a fixed exchange rate of 24 pesos to the dollar, plus a "discretionary" rate of 120 pesos, with the latter increasingly used to exchange money with tourists and set prices for subsidized goods and services such as public transportation and gasoline. At the same time, a growing private sector is banned from using official sources of foreign exchange and follows the informal rate to price its mainly imported goods. 'Here, almost everything is in dollars. Cuban money is worthless for buying food and barely anything else … and I don't have a single dollar,' said retiree Freddy Portillo, who has a 1,500-peso pension, as she walked through a main shopping area in the old town of Havana. (Additional reporting by Marc Frank, Nelson Acosta and Anet RiosEditing by Rod Nickel)
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Cuban currency hits record low as dollarization gains ground
By Marc Frank HAVANA -The Cuban peso traded on the informal market at an all-time low of 400 to the dollar on Monday, as the partial dollarization of the state-dominated economy gained momentum, stoking social tensions amid scarcity of basic goods, runaway inflation, and deteriorating infrastructure and public services. The import-dependent country's government mainly blames U.S. sanctions targeting foreign exchange earnings for the crisis that has led to an 11% contraction of the economy since 2019. Critics blame a sluggish reform of the economy. Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said in December that a partial dollarization of the economy was needed to capture greenbacks circulating in the country as part of efforts to fix the economy. Partial dollarization refers to the dollar replacing the local peso for certain goods and services. The peso has depreciated nearly 25% this year, according to Miami-based tracker El Toque, used by most residents in the Communist-run country to gauge the peso's true value. The dollar was trading at 305 pesos on January 1 and 40 pesos when the tracker debuted in 2021. The currency's weakening this year has coincided with government moves to open well-stocked retail outlets that accept only convertible currency in cash, foreign credit cards, or a state-issued dollar card, and increased use of those forms of payment in tourism, wholesale trade, and to pay customs duties. HAVES AND HAVE NOTS Government officials have acknowledged dollarization and inflation have increased inequality in a country where about 40% of the population has no access to foreign currency through remittances or other sources. That dollar-less population generally does not earn enough in state jobs or on pensions to meet basic needs. 'To overcome this (economic) situation, we have been forced to accept the partial dollarization of the economy,' President Miguel Diaz-Canel told the National Assembly last month. 'This in some ways benefits those who have certain capital resources or receive remittances, which translates into an undesirable widening of … social inequality." The government maintains a fixed exchange rate of 24 pesos to the dollar, plus a "discretionary" rate of 120 pesos, with the latter increasingly used to exchange money with tourists and set prices for subsidized goods and services such as public transportation and gasoline. At the same time, a growing private sector is banned from using official sources of foreign exchange and follows the informal rate to price its mainly imported goods. 'Here, almost everything is in dollars. Cuban money is worthless for buying food and barely anything else … and I don't have a single dollar,' said retiree Freddy Portillo, who has a 1,500-peso pension, as she walked through a main shopping area in the old town of Havana. (Additional reporting by Marc Frank, Nelson Acosta and Anet RiosEditing by Rod Nickel) Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cuban sugar production falls further, rattling rum makers
By Marc Frank HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban annual raw sugar production will fall below 200,000 metric tons in 2025 for the first time since the 19th century, potentially leaving rum makers short of a key ingredient, according to recent official reports and an industry source. State-run monopoly AZCUBA planned to produce 265,000 metric tons of raw sugar this year. But as the milling season has neared its end, output was running about 100,000 tons short, a Reuters estimate found, based on official media reports and sources with knowledge of the situation. Cuba produced 350,000 metric tons of sugar in 2023, its most recent data, compared with 1.3 million in 2019. The Communist-run Caribbean Island nation, at one time a major sugar exporter, will have to import more than it produces this year to meet bare minimum demand, offering little solace to rum distilleries, which can only use local product. The National Statistics and Information Agency reported production of sugar-based 96% ethanol alcohol -- used in distilling quality rum -- plunged 70% from 573,000 hectoliters in 2019 to 174,000 last year. Another grade of alcohol used in some other rums fell a similar amount. The outlook is the latest sign of Cuba`s collapsing economy, ravaged by U.S. sanctions, inefficiencies and the COVID-19 pandemic. Sugar cane production and sugar milling have dropped due to shortages of key inputs and mismanagement. An authentic Cuban rum must use alcohol produced from Cuban cane sugar, but plunging production has unsettled the industry, a foreign businessman told Reuters, requesting anonymity. 'Because rum must age, we have been using our stocks and the concern is, will we have new stocks looking forward?' he said. Though sugar mills remain open, yields typically drop sharply in May as summer rains complicate processing. Just one of 13 sugar-producing provinces, Sancti Spiritus, had completed its plan of a comparatively meager 19,000 tons by May. Villa Clara province, once a sugar powerhouse, reported hitting 38% of a 27,000 ton target, and Cienfuegos reached about two-thirds of a 38,000 ton plan. In eastern Cuba, Las Tunas province reported output at 5,000 tons, 11% of its plan. The Communist Party newspaper in Las Tunas blamed industrial breakdowns, fuel shortages and a lack of lubricants -- a common refrain across the industry. The Caribbean island nation was once the world's top sugar exporter, churning out 8 million metric tons of raw sugar in 1989. The collapse of its former benefactor, the Soviet Union, sparked a steady decline.
Miami Herald
23-04-2025
- Health
- Miami Herald
Will pollen allergies get worse in South Florida as climate turns hotter?
This story is part of a periodic MIami Herald series where we answer reader questions about climate change. Send us yours at climate@ It's that time of the year when yellow pollen coats everything from windshields to streets. It's not just from flowers and shrubs. Pollen that piles up under oak and pine trees also add some of the sneeziest allergens to the mix. Some studies suggest that warmer temperatures — climate change is driving Miami's temperatures up if you haven't noticed — will encourage trees to produce more pollen earlier. But there are many factors that contribute to pollen production and temperature is just one of them. In subtropical South Florida, the days can get so hot that the rising mercury might actually discourage pollen production. One study frequently pointed to draws on data collected over a 28-year period across the United States, including in Tallahassee and Tampa. It found that up until 2018 warming temperatures and increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere caused increased pollen concentrations, as well as earlier and longer pollen seasons. But other factors complicate things down here in South Florida, said Marc Frank, a botanist at the University of Florida's Herbarium in Gainesville. 'It just depends. Like, are we in a drought period? Was there a lot of cold before that warm? Or was it consistently warm? There's a number of variables that figure into it,' Frank said. READ MORE: What's the Miami allergy forecast? Just follow the sneezing — and the weather pattern In most of the country, there is little pollen to trigger allergies in the winter months because plants are not actively flowering and producing pollen. Then in the spring, trees pump out pollen which the wind spreads around, including into your nostrils. But in South Florida, when plants are always always in bloom, pollen production tends to be year round, Frank said. A map from the U.S. National Phenology Network shows that in 2024 in the central U.S. spring arrived earlier, but in Florida the timing was different. Spring arrived late in the northern part of the peninsula and there wasn't a significant change in the arrival of spring in the southern part of the peninsula. Frank also expects that extreme high temperatures might actually reduce pollen in South Florida. While warm temperatures will lead to increased pollen counts over a longer period in some areas of the country, there is some data indicating that extremely high temperatures above 90 to 95°F can actually have a negative impact on pollen production, Frank said. 'If South Florida experiences more days above 90°F, especially unseasonably hot days earlier in the year, it is possible that the total amount of pollen and the length of allergy season could decrease,' Frank said. Ashley Miznazi is a climate change reporter for the Miami Herald funded by the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Family Foundation in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners.
