Cuba loosens state control across 23 sectors in sweeping economic overhaul

Cuba’s Communist Party central committee has approved 176 market-liberalisation measures spanning 23 economic sectors, as the country moves to stabilise its struggling economy under prolonged U.S. sanctions, state media reported.

The National Assembly is expected to ratify the package on June 18, according to the state-run newspaper Granma.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel unveiled the reforms last week, which cover key areas including energy, agriculture and foreign trade.

The measures represent one of the most significant recalibrations of Cuba’s centrally planned economy in recent years, introducing greater space for private enterprise and foreign participation while restructuring state functions.

Among the approved measures are uniform legal rules for state-run and private enterprises as well as foreign and domestic investors, with the private sector set to be allowed into additional areas of the economy.

The government will also eliminate most price controls, which officials said failed to control inflation and created economic distortions. A debt renegotiation process will begin to exchange national debt for domestic assets.

Foreign companies will be authorised to invest directly in the private sector under new rules covering property rights, dispute resolution and profit distribution. The reforms also establish a framework to encourage investment, technology transfers and financial contributions from Cubans abroad.

Agricultural producers will gain access to foreign currency and be allowed to import raw materials without state intermediaries, while state-run enterprises and municipalities are set to receive expanded autonomy. Government institutions will also be merged in an effort to eliminate duplicated functions.

In the energy sector, taxes and tariffs on solar technology will be removed, allowing foreign companies to supply panels, batteries and inverters directly to the market. Fiscal adjustments will also include efforts to reduce the budget deficit through higher taxation and spending cuts.

President Díaz-Canel said Wednesday the reforms have the support of Raúl Castro, the 95-year-old revolutionary leader. "Reality imposes urgent and necessary changes on us," Díaz-Canel said. "And when the life of the people becomes so hard, the first duty of the Communist Party and the revolutionary government is not to better explain the crisis, but to change what needs to be changed to get out of it."

He attributed Cuba’s economic difficulties to the U.S. embargo and sanctions, which Havana has long blamed for its persistent economic strain.