LatinNews Regional Monitor: Caribbean & Central America - 03 December 2019

* Cuba has taken its latest steps to unite its dual-currency system. On 2 December the Cuban central bank announced the start of an experiment that sees two major shops returning change only in Cuban pesos (CUP), bypassing the convertible peso (CUC), Cuba’s secondary currency, which was introduced in 1994 and pegged to the US dollar. The government first announced plans to scrap the currency in October 2013 but has failed to carry out its promise. In recent months pressure has been building as the real value of the CUC has tumbled in light of a tightened US trade embargo and key ally Venezuela’s descent into financial turmoil. Should the experiment prove effective, the central bank plans to roll out the policy across the island.

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