Financial Wholesaler

Posted on January 03, 2012 by Admin
Financial Wholesaler

Financial Wholesaler

Portia Segelbaum in her CBSNews.com article, "Restructuring Cuba's Economy," of September 27, 2010, reports that last April, President Raul Castro announced that up to 500,000 unproductive workers would get laid off next spring. This drastic step by the Cuban State, represents an attempt to relieve the awesome financial burden on the national budget and to fight Cuba's recessionary economy. The Cuban government is hoping its private sector will absorb most of these workers in a self-employed capacity.

An Informal Economy

The informal economy in Cuba, which consists of self-employed workers that aren't state licensed and the black market, is getting strong because the Cuban government can't meet the demands of its people. Additionally, the state has shown an inability to keep prices in convertible currency at affordable levels for things like cement, paint, and wall tiles. Sociologist Aurelio Alonso believes there could be near 500,000 people working for themselves without licenses because the government either stopped issuing self-employment licenses or the people want to avoid paying the government taxes.

Segelbaum states that official statistics report that there are 143,000 workers currently licensed by the State and self-employed.There are an additional 448,000 people registered to work in the private sector on family farms. Another 200,000 government jobs will be converted into worker run cooperatives. This involves the government leasing of taxis and beauty shops to drivers, barbers, and beauticians who worked for the state, but now operate their own businesses. Segelbaum feels similar conversions will be made from State to cooperatives run by businesses dealing with furniture and upholstery..