Mayabeque, Cuba: The Round Table broadcast in its space this Thursday the intervention of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Planning Alejandro Gil Fernández, before the National Assembly of People’s Power, in which he detailed aspects of the implementation of the economic and social strategy of the country.
In his speech, he stressed that the pandemic has caused a recessive impact on the world economy. In Latin America, a fall in gross domestic product of 9.1% is estimated, while unemployment will increase from 8.1% to 13.5% in 2020.
The minister mentioned other effects of the pandemic in the region, including an 18 million increase in the number of unemployed, while the poverty rate will expand to 37.3% (231 million poor).
Referring to Cuba, Gil Fernández pointed out that the country has had to face the impacts of COVID-19 with effects on income from tourism, with an increase in health expenses and the interruption of employment and non-state activity, to which has been added the intensified blockade imposed by the United States, “which has applied between 2019-2020 more than 130 measures to suffocate the economy and create discontent in the Cuban population.”
