- Title: Cuba puts brakes on private sector expansion
- Date: 1st August 2017
- Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (AUGUST 01, 2017) (REUTERS) HAVANA RESIDENT ANTONIO VILTRES WHO WORKS AS A BRICKLAYER WORKING AT A HOME GENERAL VIEW OF HOME WHERE VILTRES IS LAYING DOWN BRICKS BRICKS LAMPS ON WALL SURROUNDING HOME WHERE VILTRES IS WORKING VILTRES MOVING BAG OF CEMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) HAVANA RESIDENT ANTONIO VILTRES WHO WORKS AS A BRICKLAYER SAYING: "This news was a bucket of cold water for me because I was already finalizing a project to start my own cafeteria with light snacks in my home, renting a room in my house. I have purchased all of the materials, I purchased all of it, I have invested more than 3,000 CUC (referring to Cuban pesos) and now with this news, well I don't know what they are going to do nor how they are going to do it." GENERAL VIEW OF PRIVATE CAFETERIA WAITRESS AT PRIVATE CAFETERIA MARGELIS SANTIESTEBAN PREPARING TABLE CLIENT AT RESTAURANT PAYING BILL SANTIESTEBAN WITH CLIENT (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) WAITRESS AT PRIVATE CAFETERIA MARGELIS SANTIESTEBAN SAYING: "This does not benefit us because all of these businesses are private businesses but they truly do provide some profit for the country. Many tourists come here, from all over Cuba and all over the world. I think it would be setting a limit on profits for the country." GENERAL VIEW OF BUSINESS WHERE YOU CAN BUY DISCS VARIOUS TYPES OF MUSIC AND MOVIES DISCS FOR SALE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) HAVANA RESIDENT WHO SELLS DISCS AND GOES ONLY BY JUNIOR SAYING: "This whole thing about suspending licenses, I really don't understand why because the private sector isn't doing any damage." GENERAL VIEW OF PEOPLE CROSSING THE STREET GENERAL VIEW OF CARS DRIVING THROUGH THE STREET
- Embargoed: 15th August 2017 19:36
- Keywords: Cuba private sector new licenses suspension
- Location: HAVANA, CUBA
- City: HAVANA, CUBA
- Country: Cuba
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0016SBTHDV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Cuba said on Tuesday (August 01) it was suspending issuing new licenses for certain private-sector activities from bed-and-breakfasts to restaurants until it had implemented new measures to curb wrongdoing such as tax evasion.
The move marked a pause in Cuba's seven-year old push to expand self-employment in a bid to cut the bloated state payroll and boost the ailing, Soviet-style economy, and will come as a blow for many Cubans hoping to strike off on their own.
According to a resolution published on Tuesday in the Official Gazette, the government has temporarily suspended licenses for those wanting to rent their homes, open a restaurant or cafe, or provide construction services.
Also affected are would-be music or language teachers, party organizers and a handful of other professions.
Cuba will also definitively no longer be issuing licenses for wholesale and retail sellers of agricultural goods, vendors of CDs or DVDs, and operators of recreation equipment, according to the gazette.
The number of self-employed on the island has more than tripled to 567,982, some 12 percent of the total number of employed, since President Raul Castro in 2010 launched his plan to expand private enterprise.
But Castro said in a speech to parliament last month that the government had detected wrongdoing in the sector, from tax evasion to the use of goods of illicit provenance, that it needed to curb before expanding further. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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