a path to advance the development of the economy (+photos and video) – Escambray

The eighth episode of the podcast “From the Presidency”, hosted by President Díaz-Canel, was dedicated to the banking process in Cuba

The new installment of the podcast “From the Presidency” delved on this occasion into the particularities that have distinguished the process of banking in the country, a topic not exempt from limitations, with multiple potentials yet to be exploited, and that can contribute a lot to development. economic of the nation.

This time the host of the space, President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, spoke about these and other particularities with his two guests: Juana Lilia Delgado Portal and Alberto Quiñones Betancourt, president and vice president of the Central Bank of Cuba, respectively.

Considered by the Head of State as one of the most important processes of the digital transformation of Cuban society, banking, he said, helps to reshape a whole group of elements that are part of the country’s macroeconomic stabilization program and are associated, among other elements, to the control of the levels of cash in circulation, as well as the relationship between the monetary mass in national currency and in foreign currency.

When there are barely two months left until one year has passed since the banking process began in Cuba, although it is possible to speak of progress in its implementation, the actions that have been carried out and, in turn, the control exercised over them continue to be insufficient. .

However, even though the greatest boost to the process coincided with the critical situation of availability of cash that existed then in the banks, the Cuban president recognized that, in light of these days, and based on analyzes that have been carried out, It is possible to assure “that the situation would have been worse if banking had not begun.”

Doesn’t banking have a positive balance? Is it just to get paid? Why so much banking if it is a problem to extract money? These were some of the questions, emanating from the opinions of the population, shared by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party during the clear exchange.

Given the urgency and the need to continue advancing in the implementation of the process, the President of the Central Bank of Cuba emphasized its importance to achieve more efficient money management, since “it helps create a credit history in the case of “people who access banking products and who are interested in obtaining credit.”

In turn, he considered, it promotes savings and constitutes an important mechanism to support the development of the economy, and reduce the use of cash.

When referring to several of the problems that have arisen, the Vice President of the Central Bank of Cuba recognized that “the practical application of some measures demonstrated that not all conditions were created for the application of this process.”

This is a process, he stressed, for which “not only willpower is required, but also investments.”

After briefly recounting the actions undertaken a little less than ten months ago, Quiñones Betancourt detailed the differences that exist between the problems derived from material deficiencies and the deviations that have been detected.

In this sense, and also associated with criteria expressed by the population, he highlighted the differences that exist between transfer and online payment, and how the latter has been violated in certain businesses to the detriment of the people. “No business can claim the right to not accept payment in the way the client decides, and also do so taking into account everything established,” he emphasized.

The banking process, he said, started from “the premise of being better than what we had, which has not been achieved, that is, today there is still dissatisfaction due to the need for people to continue requiring cash to do their things.” Payments”.

In addition to this, he recognized that in some places gradualness in the application of the measures was not achieved and certain processes were accelerated that not only depended on the will to do so, but also on prior financial training and education that was not always possible. complied.

Among other topics addressed during the podcast broadcast, the importance of having two of its own payment gateways was highlighted: Transfermovil and Enzona, which grants sovereignty to the country to carry out the banking process.

At the same time, reference was made to tax evasion and how banking can contribute to its control; to the reluctance of economic, state and private actors to accept the process; as well as the complaints presented by workers in the farming and education sectors about the matter.

In this sense, the President of the Central Bank of Cuba assured that “all possible measures and all variants are being adopted to try to minimize the effects, especially on the salaried sector and Social Security pensioners.”

Finally, President Díaz-Canel insisted on the strategic importance of carrying out the process, for which, he noted, an action plan has been designed that “includes severe control actions to, in the shortest possible time, correct the distortions that exist. ”.

Banking, he stressed, is not the cause of these problems, the cause lies in not having adequately controlled it. In banking, he concluded, is the solution to these problems.