Economy Overview:

    Cuba's heavily statist economy remains severely depressed as the result of
    its own inefficiencies and the loss of massive amounts of economic aid from
    the former Soviet Bloc. Total output in 1994 was only about half the output
    of 1989. The fall in output and in imports is reflected in the deterioration
    of food supplies, shortages of electricity, inability to get spare parts,
    and the replacement of motor-driven vehicles by bicycles and draft animals.
    Higher world market prices for sugar and nickel in 1994, however, resulted
    in a slight increase in export earnings for the first time in six years,
    despite lower production of both commodities. The growth of tourism slowed
    in late 1994 as a result of negative publicity surrounding the exodus of
    Cubans from the island and other international factors. The government
    continued its aggressive search for foreign investment and announced
    preliminary agreements to form large joint ventures with Mexican investors
    in telecommunications and oil refining. In mid-1994, the National Assembly
    began introducing several new taxes and price increases to stem growing
    excess liquidity and restore some of the peso's value as a monetary
    instrument. In October the government attempted to stimulate food production
    by permitting the sale of any surplus production (over state quotas) at
    unrestricted prices at designated markets. Similar but much smaller markets
    were also introduced for the sale of manufactured goods in December. The
    various government measures have influenced a remarkable appreciation of the
    black market value of the peso, from more than 100 pesos to the dollar in
    September 1994 to 40 pesos to the dollar in early 1995. Policy discussions
    continue in the bureaucracy over the proper pace and scope of economic
    reform.


National product:
    GDP - purchasing power parity - $14 billion (1994 est.)
National product real growth rate:
    0.4% (1994 est.)
National product per capita:
    $1,260 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
    NA%
Unemployment rate:
    NA%
Budget:
  revenues:
    $9.3 billion
  expenditures:
    $12.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1994 est.)


Industrial production:

    growth rate NA%


Electricity:
  capacity:
    3,990,000 kW
  production:
    12 billion kWh
  consumption per capita:
    1,022 kWh (1993)


Economic Activity

Industries:

    sugar milling and refining, petroleum refining, food and tobacco processing,
    textiles, chemicals, paper and wood products, metals (particularly nickel),
    cement, fertilizers, consumer goods, agricultural machinery
Agriculture:
    key commercial crops - sugarcane, tobacco, and citrus fruits; other products
    - coffee, rice, potatoes, meat, beans; world's largest sugar exporter; not
    self-sufficient in food (excluding sugar); sector hurt by persistent
    shortages of fuels and parts

Exports:

    $1.6 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
  Commodities:
    sugar, nickel, shellfish, tobacco, medical products, citrus, coffee
   Major Trade Partners::
    Russia 15%, Canada 9%, China 8%, Egypt 6%, Spain 5%, Japan 4%, Morocco 4%
    (1994 est.)


Imports:

    $1.7 billion (c.i.f., 1994 est.)
  Commodities:
    petroleum, food, machinery, chemicals
   Major Trade Partners::
    Spain 17%, Mexico 10%, France 8%, China 8%, Venezuela 7%, Italy 4%, Canada
    3%, (1994 est.)
External debt:
    $10.8 billion (convertible currency, December 1993)