Economy of Cuba

(Cuba Twitter)-Economy of Cuba is a largely state-controlled, centrally planned economy overseen by the Cuban government, though there remains significant foreign investment and private enterprise in Cuba. Most of the means of production are owned and run by the government, and most of the labor force is employed by the state. In the year 2000, public sector employment was 76% and private sector employment was 23% compared to the 1981 ratio of 91% to 8%. Capital investment is restricted and requires approval by the government. The Cuban government sets most prices and rations goods to citizens. In 2009, Cuba ranked 51st out of 182 with an HDI of 0.863; remarkably high considering its GDP per capita only places it 95th. Cuba also significantly outperforms the rest of Latin America in terms of infant and child mortality, morbidity, educational attainment and an array of other social and health indicators.

Cubans receive low housing and transportation costs, free education, and health care and food subsidies. Corruption is common, though far lower than in most other countries in Latin America.

Self-employment

To provide jobs for workers laid off due to the economic crisis that the government was having difficulty providing, and to try to bring some forms of black market activity into legal, and regulated, channels, Havana in 1993 legalized self-employment for some 150 occupations. The government tightly controls the small private sector, which has fluctuated in size from 150,000 to 209,000, by regulating and taxing it. For example, owners of small private restaurants (paladares) can seat no more than 12 people and can only employ family members to help with the work. Set monthly fees must be paid regardless of income earned and frequent inspections yield stiff fines when any of the many self-employment regulations are violated. Rather than expanding private sector opportunities, in recent years, the government has been attempting to squeeze more of these private sector entrepreneurs out of business and back to the public sector. Many have opted to enter the informal economy or black market. In recent years there has developed what is called "urban agriculture", production which takes place on small parcels of land in the cities. Growing organopónicos (organic gardens) in the private sector has been attractive to city dwelling small producers who get to sell their products in the same place where they produce them, avoiding taxes and enjoying a measure of government help from the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAGRI) in the form of seed houses and advisers.

Energy production

Due to the reliance on declining Soviet era electricity generators, many areas of Cuba suffered[when?] frequent blackouts and brownouts for extended periods, creating additional pressure on society. To counter these problems, the government has put Cuba through an "Energy Revolution", which has placed increased emphasis on the efficient use of electrical energy and more efficient,[citation needed] small-power generators linked in a synchronized network. The country has increased the number of solar- and wind-powered generators. Citizens are also encouraged to swap their old, electricity consumptive lamps with those of newer model to reduce consumption, which is also complemented with a new power tariff, which imposes economically punitive measurements on inefficient use of power.Though development was hampered by large-scale damage created by Hurricane Dennis and Hurricane Wilma, which cut Cuba's electricity generation capacity by half in the areas most affected, Cuba now exceeds the government set demand in electricity production. Raul Castro told Cubans in his July 26 speech in 2007, that the Special Period is not yet over.

Other statistics

Electricity - production: 16.89 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 89.52%

hydro: 0.65%

nuclear: 0%

other: 9.83% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 13.93 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2008 est.)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2008 est.)

Oil - production: 62,100 bbl/d (9,870 m3/d) (2008 est.)

Oil - consumption: 176,000 bbl/d (28,000 m3/d) (2008 est.)

Oil - exports: 0 bbl/d (0 m3/d) (2007 est.)

Oil - imports: 104,800 bbl/d (16,660 m3/d) (2007 est.)

Oil - proved reserves: 197,300,000 bbl (31,370,000 m3) (1 January 2009 est.)

Natural gas - production: 400 million cu m (2008 est.)

Natural gas - consumption: 400 million cu m (2008 est.)

Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2008 est.)

Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2008 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves: 70.79 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

Agriculture - products: sugarcane, tobacco, citrus, coffee, rice, potatoes, beans, livestock

Annual budget: revenues: $47.08 billion expenditures: $50.34 billion (2009 est.)

Public debt: 34.6% of GDP (2009 est.)

Current account balance: $513 million (2009 est.

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $4.647 billion (31 December 2009 est.)