Cuba says its trade figures are improving

Cuba says its trade figures are improving
01 Nov 2010 19:15:42 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Trade deficit cut 7 pct as exports rise, imports flat
* Turnaround in trade has helped ease cash crunch

HAVANA, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Cuba has held the line on imports this year while increasing exports, which is allowing the cash-strapped government to "face up" to its unpaid debts to foreign creditors, Foreign Trade Minister Rodrigo Malmierca said on Monday.

Without giving specific numbers, he said in the first nine months of the year exports of goods rose 21 percent from 2009, while imports were up just 1 percent, the combination of which cut the country's trade deficit by 7 percent.

In 2009, Cuba reported $2.9 billion in exports of goods, with imports of $7.1 billion, for a deficit of $4.1 billion.

Not included in those figures are $9.9 billion in export revenues Cuba claims for services, which are primarily the sending of medical personnel overseas to work.

Overspending created a severe cash crunch that led the communist-led government two years ago to freeze Cuban bank accounts held by foreign businesses and stop paying many foreign suppliers.

The situation has eased a bit, with access to bank accounts loosening and more foreign suppliers getting paid.

This year's more favorable financial trends had "contributed to the increase in our income and allowed us to gradually face up to the liquidity problems in external finances," said Malmierca, speaking at the opening of Havana's annual international trade fair.

Cuba has begun a major economic reform to cut the government's role in the economy and increase its private sector. Half a million jobs are slated to be cut from state payrolls over the next six months in a country where the government employs 85 percent of the workforce.

The changes are good news for the island's trading partners, Malmierca said.

The reforms "will ensure a sustained increase in economic efficiency, substantial saving of resources and a consolidated advance in the direction of remedying our external finances," he said.

"Our trading partners all over the world may rest assured that the result of our process of updating our economic model will contribute to strengthening our relations," he said.

Malmierca said more than 300 companies are investing in Cuba.

But more may be looking at coming to Cuba, as trade fair officials told Cuban media that 400 companies from around the world would have exhibits.

Only about a dozen companies from the United States were present on Monday, down about half from last year's number.

The longstanding U.S. trade embargo against Cuba allows only sales of agricultural products and medicine to the island. (Reporting by Marc Frank; Editing by Jeff Franks and Eric Beech)

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